


I Never Dreamed (That I Would Meet Somebody Like You)

by Ellie_Elizabeth



Series: All My Stars [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Captain America: Civil War (Movie) Spoilers, F/M, Fluff, Hurt Peter Parker, Infinity War spoilers, Irondad, Kid Peter Parker, Literally everyone things Peter is Tony's kid, No Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Not Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Compliant, Parent Pepper Potts, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Spider-Man: Homecoming, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, SO MUCH FLUFF, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, descriptions of violence, they're not wrong, we're ignoring Infinity War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-08
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2019-11-13 18:48:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 12
Words: 22,400
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18036863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ellie_Elizabeth/pseuds/Ellie_Elizabeth
Summary: Peter Parker’s life is going pretty good. Mr Stark gave him his suit back, Aunt May found out about Spider-Man and didn’t try to kill him, and to top it all off he now has a real internship at Stark Industries and gets to go there a few times every week.So yeah, things are great. Or at least they were, until the Rogue Avengers decided to show up back at the compound after being pardoned. Now he has to figure out a way to keep his Spider-Man thing a secret, and he might have accidentally called Tony Stark ‘dad’ in front of the Ex-Avengers???He’s going to have a fun time talking himself out of this one.***Takes place after Homecoming, and we’re just forgetting that Infinity War ever happened.





	1. Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this at 1 am, sorry for any spelling or grammar errors.

Peter Parker was many things.

He was Spider-Man, the top of his Sophomore class at Midtown, basically a 15 year old genius, and… a cuddler?

If someone would’ve told Peter six months ago that  he would end up spending his Friday nights curled up into Tony Stark’s side while eating gourmet popcorn and watching old (and somewhat shitty) movies, he would have laughed at them. He would’ve have told them that Tony Stark was a man of few emotions and avid hater of physical contact. He would have also pointed out that Tony Stark would literally have no reason to be hanging out with some weird, nerdy kid from Queen. 

But it turns out he was completely wrong in both of those regards. In a weird twist of fate, Peter quickly learned that Mr. Stark does in fact possess quite a few emotions, and cuddling was definitely one thing he would never turn down. He also did have a purpose for hanging out with a nerdy fifteen year old, as that fifteen year old just happened to be the one and only Spider-Man who tried to almost get himself killed on the daily. 

And even if he would never admit it outloud, Peter filled the empty void that the Rogue Avengers had left behind. Up until Peter started coming over more frequently, there were times where Tony couldn’t even bare to be in the Compound. The silence was just to deafening, and the memories just seemed to continually haunted him. 

However he made new memories with Peter, and the kid was anything but silent. Slowly but surely it started to feel like home again, and Tony realized that Peter really was the missing link in his life. 

So there they laid, curled up on the couch with no less than five blankets and seven pillows. Peter had managed to tuck himself under Tony’s arm with his cheek pressed to the older man's chest, and Tony’s arm was lazily thrown over Peter’s shoulder. The clock struck midnight right as they were about halfway through their third movie, and Peter could barely stop himself from falling asleep right then and there. Not to mention that Tony was gently running in fingers through his curls, which did not help the droopy feeling in his eyes. 

“Don’t fall asleep on me kiddo”, Tony joked, as Peter just hummed into his chest. “We can head off to bed if you’re getting sleepy” 

“But popcorn”, Peter mumbled, looking over at the half filled bucket. “We need to finish our popcorn”

“It’ll still be there tomorrow”, Tony laughed, ignoring the boy’s groans of protest as he stood up from the couch. “And if not I’ll just order some more, the perks of being a billionaire and all” 

Tony somehow managed to get Peter back to his room, and he barely lasted one minute after his head hit the pillow before he was out like a light. Tony knew the kid hadn’t been sleeping very good lately. Whenever he’d wake up in the middle of the night he often went the roof of his apartment building with his mask on to talk to Karen. He probably didn’t know that Friday alerted Tony every time he put on the suit after curfew, but as long as he wasn’t Spider-Maning he didn’t see any issue.   
Karen had been designed to help Peter and act as almost a parental figure, and it warmed Tony’s heart to see him actually using her for that purpose. He also knew that she had talked him down from many panic attack, and has saved his life to many times to count. 

Not to mention ever since the Vulture incident, Tony has vowed to never take the suit away again. He instead updated it so that he could shut down certain parts of the suit if he deemed it necessary. It would be pretty hard to go out as Spider-Man without web shooters. 

But he would never consider turning off Karen. Not in a million years. 

So before Tony left Peter's room to go off to his own bed, he carefully grabbed the Spider-Man mask sticking out of his backpack and placed it on the nightstand that stood next to his bed. Just in case he needed it. 

 

* * *

  
  


“Sir, it seems that Peter Parker is in distress” 

Friday’s voice rung throughout Tony’s bedroom, waking him up almost instantly. The words didn’t make sense at first, but slowly but surely they came together.  _ Peter Parker. Distress.  _ Before he even knew it, he was out of bed and heading down the hallway in the direction of Peter’s room. 

Peter was indeed in distress, clearly having some kind of nightmare. All of his blankets and pillows had been thrown off the bed, and Peter laid on the empty mattress thrashing around while also calling out to Tony. 

“ _ Please  _ I don’t wanna go”, he cried, and Tony quickly ran over to his bedside.

“How long has be been like this Friday?”, Tony asked, grabbing onto Peter’s arm to try and stop him from moving. 

“About fifteen minutes sir”, Friday responded.

“ _ Mr. Stark”,  _ Peter called again, his voice so raw and scared it broke Tony’s heart into a million pieces. 

It was still such a new and foreign concept to Tony that this fifteen year old looked up to him and  _ trusted him  _ so much. Not to mention that it also scared him half to death, with the memories from his own childhood driving him to want to be a better person for Peter almost every day. He swore he would never be like his dad, and so far he has kept up that promise.   

Sadly however, that promise also came with the added bonus of getting to talk scared teenage spider kids out of nightmares.

“Peter”, Tony said, gently shaking his arm. “You gotta wake up it’s just a nightmare” 

When Peter just continued to thrash around and cry, Tony tried a little harder and talked a bit louder. “Come on kiddo”, grabbing both of his arms now and continuing to shake him gently. “Come on underoos you gotta wake up”

And he did, with a start Peter suddenly shot up with his eyes wide open. He started to cough as Tony rubbed circles on his back, and didn’t even hesitate to lean his head into Tony’s chest as he started to cry again. Whatever the dream had been about, it has messed with the kids head big time. 

“It’s ok, it’s ok”, Tony repeated, as Peter continued to cough and sob into his chest. “Just let it out, it’s ok” 

“I’m sorry”, Peter mumbled, slowly lifting his head. “I didn’t mean to wake you up” 

“Don’t sweat it kid, I’ve spent half my life not sleeping so I don’t think one night with my Spiderling will really affect anything” 

Peter let out a small laugh -which Tony took as a good sign- and continued to rub circles on Peter’s back. “Do you want to tell me what the dream was about?”

Peter hesitated, and Tony didn’t really blame him; whatever the dream had been, it obviously upset Peter a lot and he probably didn’t want to relive it. “It was kind of stupid”, Peter choked out. “But I was on this weird planet with you and some other people, and slowly they all started turning to dust”

Peter paused for a second before continuing. “Then after they had all gone, I could feel all my spidey senses going through the roof and I looked down at my hands, a-and I was disappearing too” 

“Well I can assure you”, Tony said, still holding the boy. “That it was only just a dream because I promise that as long as I’m around, nothing bad will ever happen to you” 

Nobody could be sure how long the pair sat there, but slowly but surely Peter started drifting off again and Tony helped him lie back down into his bed. As he turned to leave Peter made a quick grab for his arm, causing him to turn around and look down at the boy in curiosity. 

“Please stay”, Peter basically whispered, and how could Tony ever say no. With his unruly curls and big, brown dowey eyes, Peter looked a million times young then he actually was. So without any other words, Tony carefully slide into the bed next to Peter and wrapped the boy up in his arms. Just like he wished his father would’ve done when he was a kid. 

When Pepper found them the next morning -after getting home early from a business trip- she made sure to take lots of picture, which she was totally planning on printing out later. Then when the two of them stumbled downstairs an hour or so later, she made them all light, fluffy pancakes and they watch cartoons on the TV in the living room. 

Everything was absolutely perfect, until Tony’s phone rang. He decided that whoever it was, they could wait until he finished his pancakes to answer them. 

Than, once he had finished, he looked down to see that the person had left a voicemail. However that wasn’t what shocked him the most, instead it was the ID of the person who had called him. 

“Hey Tony” Steve Roger’s familiar voice rang from the other line. “Um, it’s been awhile, but I was wondering if you’d be ok with us crashing at the compound for a few weeks while we try to get back on our feet. I know things with the accords are still a little messy, but since we’re mostly pardoned now I’d really like to try and repair things. Please call me back” 


	2. Return

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rogues arrive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to stop writing these chapters so late at night.
> 
> Also I didn’t edit this very well so sorry for any spelling/grammar errors.

Tony Stark had dealt with a lot throughout his short life.

He lost his parents, was sold to terrorists, almost got stuck in a wormhole, and the civil war…

It’s safe to say he had won a lot, and lost a lot; but he wouldn’t trade it all for anything, because in the end it led him to meet Peter Parker.

Tony was never the parental type, and up until recently never even imagined having kids. His father messed him up pretty bad, and he was convinced that any offspring he had would be cursed to have the same exact fate. It’s the same reason he tried to distances himself from Peter when the two had first met, because he was just so young and impressionable and Tony was just a royal mess.

But Peter had been suborn and had broken down Tony’s walls. After the Homecoming incident Peter had slowly wiggled his way into Tony’s life and somehow the two had become nearly inseparable in the short time they’d known each other.

Peter had needed a father figure in his life, and Tony had needed a reason to buck up and become responsible from someone other than himself. Ever since Peter started coming over regularly, Tony has been less stressed and anxious all the time. He’s been sleeping better and has mostly stopped his 72 hour lab binges.

Pepper always joked how Peter was a better influence on Tony than Tony was on Peter, which wasn’t entirely incorrect. Peter being around forced him to shape up and stop feeling sorry for himself. Yeah, the civil war had sucked and he was constantly stressing over the revised Accords, but all of that was now second burner because Peter needed him and that was all that truly matter.

But now, despite everything else, the Rogues were coming back to the compound, and Tony still hadn’t figured out a way to break the news to Peter. They basically had to options; one introduce them to Peter and pray they don’t figure out his Spider-Man secret, or two, have Peter avoid them at all costs.

He didn’t want to tell Peter he wasn’t allowed to come to the Compound anymore, because they both treasured their labs days, but if they chose to keep Peter away from the Rogues than they really wouldn’t have any other choice. They could always sneak him in through the back and have them both hide out in the lab until Peter needed to leave, but that would force them to stop things like movie night. And neither one of them wanted that.

All these problems plagued Tony as him and Peter sat down in the lab one Friday night. It had been a little under a week since Steve called and Tony still wasn’t sure how to break the news to Peter. He probably should have planned this better considering that they were moving back in tomorrow, but he had no idea how to approach the subject.

Peter wasn’t an idiot, and realized something was wrong with Mr. Stark from the moment he had gotten to the compound. Not only had he seemed distant and distracted, but he was also activity avoiding making eye contact with Peter. This was also odd because it was movie night, and Mr. Stark always got excited on movie nights.

So Peter was a little concerned.

“Mr. Stark”, he asked tentatively. “It everything alright?”

Tony looked up from whatever he had been working on and looked over at the boy sitting only 10 feet from him. “Yeah of course”, he said, putting down his screwdriver. “Why? Is something wrong?”

“It’s just”, Peter hesitated. “You seem so distant and distracted. Is it something I did? Or did something bad happen? You don’t have to suffer in silence Mr. Stark”

“I’m fine kid”, Tony reassured him. “It’s just… well, I’m not exactly sure how to tell you this”

Peter listened to him intently, not missing a word he said. “It’s ok Mr. Stark”, he said. “Whatever it is I can take it”

Tony sighed before responded. “It’s the Rogue Avengers kid”, he told Peter. “They’re moving back here tomorrow”

Peter just stared at him, his mouth slightly agape. Tony instantly regretted telling him the minute the words left his mouth, Peter shouldn’t have to deal with this crap. He may have had the chance to become an Avenger, but he turned down Tony’s offer, so there was no reason he should be getting mixed up in all their petty drama.

“Oh”, Peter whispered. “Does this mean we can’t have movie nights anymore?”

Tony couldn’t help the laugh that left his mouth, and he couldn’t believe how Peter could lift a weeks worth of stress off his shoulders with one stupid sentence. Peter laughed too as the pair settled back into comfortable silence, and man, sometimes Tony really really loved his kid.

* * *

 Peter left early the next morning, after the two had uncomfortably woken up on the couch after watching the Star Wars Trilogy the night before. As much as Tony wanted Peter to stay, both to help with his stress and keep him sane, they had both agreed it would be best for Peter to stay away for the time being. While it didn’t mean that he couldn’t come and work in the lab with Tony any more, it did mean that movie nights would need to be put on temporary pause and Peter would have to stay in Tony’s private section of the compound whenever he came over to visit.

It wasn’t a great compromise, but it worked for the time being.

The quinjet carrying the Ex-Avengers landed very shortly after Peter had left, and was greeted by Tony, Rhodey, and a very pissed off Happy who was definitely not over what had happened in Siberia.

Steve was the first person off the ship, and he looked… different, more tired and sporting a full beard. The Captain that Tony had met all those years ago was no longer there, and that thought scared Tony more than he would ever admit.

The rest followed suit, piling off of the jet and onto the lush, green grass that surrounded the compound. They all looked older and tired, and Tony felt a small pant of guilt. They may have betrayed him and fought against him when they were forced to take sides, but at the end of the day these were the people who, once upon a time, he had chosen to be his teammates and fight alongside with.

“Tony”, Steve greeted, his voice sounding exactly the same as it had that day in Siberia. “It’s good to see you”

“Right back at you Cap”, he responded, glad that his glasses covered his eyes. He knew that they would always betray him, and no matter how good he got at masking his emotions, his eyes would always give him away.

The entire atmosphere of the situation was awkward. These people standing in front of him were basically strangers at this point, because a lot can happen in two years; people can change.

Tony led them inside, showing them to their rooms that hadn’t moved since the day they left. He was thankful for Rhodey's constant presence behind him, because without him Tony doubted he would have been able to make it through the entire afternoon. He showed them all the new and renovated parts of the compound, and made sure they knew where everything was.

Tony could have cried out in relief was his phone suddenly rang while they were standing in the middle of the train room, as he was trying to show them all the new training tech he had installed. However, despite the fact that Steve had been unfrozen for almost 10 years now, he could barely grasp the concept on how to use it. He left Rhodey and the other Rogues to try to explain it to him as he took his still ringing room into the next room over.

The name _Peter Parker_ and a stupid selfie of them two of them flashed on the screen as the phone continued to ring. As soon as he was out of earshot of the others he quickly answered the phone, not wanting it to go to voicemail.

“Hey kiddo”, he said, trying not to let his stress show through his voice. “What’s up”

“Not much Mr. Stark”, Peter replied, the wind in the background of the call proving that he was definitely on the top of some tall building right now. “I was just taking a small break and wanted to see how you were doing”

This kid. _This freaking kid._ Tony could barely believe how lucky he had gotten. Out of all the kids in the word he had gotten the most kind, selfless, and caring one of them all. Tony’s past was definitely not squeaky clean, but he must have done something right along the way because Peter was part of his life and that was miracle in and of itself.

“I’m fine kid”, Tony chucked. “Things are going a lot smoother than I thought they would, and I actually think we have a chance of making this work”

“That’s greats Mr. Stark”, Peter said, and he could practically hear the kid beaming through the phone. “Does that mean I can still come to the lab on Wednesday?”

“Of course”, Tony told him. “I told you, no matter what happens with the Rogues you’re still always welcome to come for lab days, I wouldn’t trade those for the world”

Tony could hear distantly sirens coming from the other side of the call, and Peter just sighed. “I guess that’s my cue to go”, he joked, and Tony could hear his voice get more muffled as he pulled the mask over his face. “I’ll call you later Mr. Stark”

“Ok, love you kid”, Tony replied.

“Love you too Mr. Stark”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Off topic but can we please talk about Captain Marvel for a second? If you haven’t seen it yet PLEASE go see it. I’m still not over yet and I’m planning on going again this weekend. I just can’t get over how accurately they protrayed Carol Danvers and I’m so proud of how well it did opening weekend. Ok, Captain Marvel rant over. Thanks for reading!


	3. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter’s hungery and Tony needs an excuse to leave the compound, father-son bonding ensues.

Peter came to the compound every Wednesday, Friday, and then would usually stay most of the weekend. And as Wednesday quickly approached, Tony Stark’s stress level only continued to grow.

Things with the Rogues had been going pretty well. They had mostly settled back into their daily routines at the compound, and Tony was actively avoiding them at all costs. Rhodey was constantly pushing him to try and resolve things with them, but Tony was basically a master at procrastination and kept telling him he would figure something out.

But nothing was ever figured out, and now Peter was coming over and he had to be extra careful to not reveal him to the other Avengers. He knew they would never believe the lie that Peter was his ‘intern’ who he had taken a shine too. It wouldn’t be long for them to connect the tiny teenage boy to the vigilante they had fought in Germany and than they’d all be in deep shit.

Other than Tony, the only people who knew about Peter's other identity were Happy, Pepper, Rhodey, and of course May. If all went according to plan it would stay that way, because the more people who knew about Spider-Man's true identity, the more danger he would be in. Of course the others would never purposely hurt him. He may have gotten a little beaten up during the airport fight, but it wasn’t anything he couldn’t handle. While on patrol he had been punched, stabbed, kicked, and had been covered in almost every possible bodily fluid. And while every fight resulted in more gray hairs for Tony, the kid had definitely proved himself at this point.

So he wasn’t worried about the others hurting him, he was worried about enemies of the Avengers hurting him. Even if they had saved the world a few times, people still weren’t 100% keen on the idea of superheroes (if the accords were anything to go off of). Peter wasn’t technically an Avenger (yet), but due to his multiple fights alongside Iron Man and his actions around Queens, the media had deemed him an honorary Avenger. Meaning that the enemies of Iron Man, were now also the enemies of Spider-Man.

He also really didn’t want to be lectured by the others about recruiting a 14 year old _child_ to fight on behalf of their stupid disagreement _._ He had his own regrets about that and he didn’t need the others to remind him about it. He knew Steve would probably over react, Nat would just stare at him with a disappointed expression, and he didn’t know Sam well enough to know how’d he react, but he assumed it wouldn’t be good. There was also Wanda, but she had only said a max of three words to Tony in the time she’d been back, so he assumed she wouldn’t be to much of a problem. And Bucky was, thankfully, still in Wakanada getting his brain fixed.

So not only was Peter in potentially danger, but so was Tony’s sanity.

Just like every other Wednesday, Happy arrived with Peter at approximately 4:00. But unlike every other Wednesday, Peter took the back entrance into the compound, and instead of stopping in the kitchen for a snack he took the elevator straight down to meet Tony in the lab.

Tony hadn’t even noticed that it was four o’clock, and jumped a little well the elevator doors dinged open. However, he calmed down instantly when he realized it was only Peter.

“Hey kiddo”, Tony said, as the boy dropped his backpack onto the lab floor. “How was your day?”

“Fine”, Peter said, sitting down on one of the many benches and picking up a random screwdriver. “Really boring, I hate precalculus”

Tony laughed and put down the helmet he had been working on. “You know if you ever need any help on your homework feel free to ask me, I took that class when I was like ten”

Peter sat his head down on the bench. “It’s not that it’s hard Mr. Stark”, he told the man, his voice slightly muffled from his sweatshirt sleeve. “It’s just that I’m more a chemistry kid, ya know?”

This made Tony laugh even harder, which earned him a glare from Peter. “Well for the record Physics is definitely the superior science”

“Die”, Peter deadpanned, as he walked over to his small work station.

The two worked in comfortable silence for awhile, before Tony noticed that Peter was starting to get fidgety. Every so often he would drop a tool and the sound of its impact would echo across the huge lab. He also wouldn’t stop tapping either his foot or fingers, and when Tony asked him about it he suddenly got really pale.

“It’s nothing Mr. Stark”, Peter tried to assure him. “I’m just… really hungry”

“Did you eat lunch today kid?”, Tony asked, and he got his answer when Peter looked down in shame. “Kid you seriously gotta keep that metabolism fed”

“I know Mr. Stark”, he told the older man. “But the lunch food at school is so gross, and my heightened senses make it almost unbearable to eat. I’m usually fine because after school I either go to Delmars or here and get food, but today Happy made me come right down to the lab”

Tony sighed. “Peter, why didn’t you say something. I could’ve easily gotten you some food”

“I just didn’t want to bother you, you looked really busy”, Peter admitted.

Right as Peter said that, Tony came up with a brilliant plan; a plan so brilliant, he didn’t know why he didn’t think of it originally. “Grab your bag kid”, he told Peter as he started to clean up his section of the lab. “We’re getting out of here”

Peter looked confused, but started complying nonetheless. “What? Why?”, Peter asked. “Where are we going”

“Well you’re starving”, Tony stated. “And I need a good excuse to get out of the compound, so we’re going out to dinner. And then maybe to a movie, depending on how I’m feeling”

The grin that spread across Peters face made Tony wish he would’ve thought of the idea sooner, and he started packing up his stuff even quicker.

The two loaded into one of Tony’s many cars that he kept in the ground level garage, and before long they were speeding down the roads of upstate New York. Peter managed to talk the whole time, telling Tony stories about what happened on patrol, some stupid things Ned had said, and of course how hungry he still was.

Soon they got back into the city, and Peter instantly started pointing out places they should eat. He pointed to a shabby looking burger joint, a Thai place, and even a bar. But Tony knew where he wanted to go and they continued driving until they made it to a small Italian restaurant on the outskirts of Queens.

“Tony!”, a small Italian women greeted them as they walked in the door. To Peters surprise Tony actually went over to the women and pulled her into a tight hug.

“Sofia!”, he responded. “It so nice to see you again”

“What brings you to queens on this particular night”, she asked, a light smile on her lips. “I swear to god if this has anything to do with more aliens I am moving back to Italy”

“No aliens”, Tony smiled. “I just want to treat my protégée to some authentic Italian food”

“Well then take a seat”, she told them, as she ushered them to the nearest table. “I’m guessing you’ll be having the usual?”

Tony looked up from the menu he had been handed, and locked eyes with Peter. “You good with spaghetti?”

Peter enthusiastically nodded his head and Tony quietly laughed. “Ok, two orders of spaghetti please”

They also ended up ordering some drinks and a basket of bread sticks to tide Peter over as they waited for the spaghetti to come out. He managed to eat the entire basket of bread sticks (minus the one that Tony ate), and when the spaghetti finally came he ended up eating half of Tony’s plate when his wasn’t enough.

“Remind me to order you two servings the next time we come”, Tony joker, as he watched the boy scrape the remaining food off his plate.

“Next time?”, Peter asked, looking up at the man. His plate forgotten on the table.

“Yeah”, Tony said, not expecting that reaction from the boy. “I was thinking maybe we could make this a weekly thing”

Peters smile somehow grew even bigger. “I’d like that a lot Mr. Stark”

Tony hated to disrupt the boys good mood, but he really needed to talk to Peter about this next topic. “I’m also going to be talking to your aunt about this lunch problem”, he told Peter, and watched as his smile waivered. “I was thinking I could deposit a little extra money into your bank account every month so you can buy some food to pack for lunch. I was thinking maybe 300 or 400 dollars”

“No no no no”, Peter stammered out. “That’s really not necessary Mr. Stark, I’m fine I promise. May shouldn’t have to worry about something stupid like lunch, she already has so much other stuff on her plate right now”

“That’s why I’m worrying about it instead of her”, Tony said. “Peter, after your aunt found out about Spider-Man she made me promise to always look out for you no matter what, and this situation is no different. You _need_ food and this isn’t up for debate”

When Peter said nothing in response, Tony continued. “Earlier you said you didn’t want to bother me, but that’s my job Peter. It’s my job to make sure you’re ok and not getting yourself into too much trouble”

“I know Mr. Stark”, Peter whispered.

Tony hesitated for a moment, not sure how to continue with this conversation. “If you’re still up for it, that new action movie you’ve been talking about wanting to see is playing in the theatre down the road”, he told him, checking the show times on his phone. “If we go now we can probably catch it”

Finally, Peters contagious smile returned to his face. “That would be awesome Mr. Stark”

So the two went to go see the movie, and when Peter got home later that night and went to bed, he couldn’t help but think about how Tony Stark was slowly turning into his dad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!!! I’m actually surprised at how good this story is doing so far! 
> 
> Also, I promise Peter will be meeting the Avengers soon. And I promise that it will be great!


	4. Doubt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rogues are are our for the weekend, so Peter and Tony do what any normal people would do in that situation. 
> 
> Order pizza and watch movies.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Third quarter is almost over and I’m so STRESSED, but I wrote this instead of working on important work because I want to forget about it.

Peter had a problem, and that problem was that he had almost called Mr. Stark  **dad** five times in the last two days. 

It had been about two weeks since the Rogues had returned to the compound, and Peter had yet to find himself face to face with any of them. However, right now he had much bigger issues to worry about, and none of them dealt with the recently pardoned Avenger. Somehow, he had mentally convinced himself that Tony Stark was now his father, and he was quickly dealing with the repercussions in the form of almost saying it to his face multiple time. 

In all honesty, is wasn’t even his fault. Ever since the others had returned Tony had been acting  _ extra  _ dad like. Not to mention that anytime he got the opportunity, Tony would leave the compound; which lead to many nights of Peter, Tony, and May all cuddled up on the couch watching movies and shows. He also started having Peter over on Mondays now, since Decathlon was officially over for the season, and they would send those nights working together in the lab. 

Now it was Friday night again, and Peter was nearly shaking with nerves in the back off the car that Happy was driving. He knew he really had nothing to worry about, and that if he did accidentally slip Tony would probably just laugh it off, but Peters doubts got the better of him. 

_ What if Tony found it weird and clingy?  _

The black car pulled up to the front entrance of the compound, which left Peter less anxious and more confused. “Happy?”, Peter asked as he got out of the car. “I thought we’re supposed to go in through the back?” 

“Not today kid”, Happy replied, closing his car door. “The others are gone for the weekend so Tony asked I take you in through the front for a change” 

Peter couldn’t stop the grin that spread across his face. For the first time in two week he didn’t have to constantly be stressing about revealing himself while over at the compound. No threats of Ex-Avengers or secret identities were held over his head, and even if it was only for weekend, things could maybe go back to normal. 

He instantly made his way into the kitchen and grabbed an apple off the counter. The kitchen and commons area had changed quite a bit since the last time he had been there. The fridge was stocked with a lot of food he knew that Mr. Stark would never eat, along with the cabinets and pantry. A bunch of random items were also strown about the living room. A knife or arrow there, a sweatshirt there, just foreign items who Peter couldn’t identify the owner of. 

He plopped down on the familiar couch right as Tony walked into the living room. “Hey kiddo”, he greeted, sitting down next to him. “Making yourself comfy?” 

“Mhm”, Peter hummed, resting his head against Tony’s bicep. 

Tony’s arm instictly wrapped around Peters shoulder as the two settled into comfortable silence. They both refused to acknowledge the elephant in the room, represented by the WWII documentary book that belonged to neither Peter nor Tony. So much had changed within the last few weeks and it terrified Peter. 

“You hungry?”, Tony asked after a while. An unfamiliar cartoon show was playing on the TV, and Peter had gotten out his math homework and was getting occasional help from Tony.  

“Yeah”, Peter responded as he finished the last problem on his sheet. “Pizza?”  

“You got it”, Tony told him. “Friday order two pepperoni pizzas”, he called up to the ceiling. 

The two walked into the kitchen and got out a few plates and napkins for when the pizza arrived. The last time they had eaten pizza on the white couch, a little grease had dripped onto the cushions. Disaster was averted when Tony had the bright idea to flip the cushions so that Pepper would never find out, but since then they didn’t eat anything messy on the sofa out of fear of Peppers wrath. 

Twenty minutes later they were both stuffing their faces with greasy pizza and laughing over something stupid that Peter said. It really was like nothing had ever happened, and it saddened Peter that after this weekend they would be forced to return to speeding all their time either at the apartment or in the lab. 

“That is the most god awful idea I’ve ever heard Peter”, Tony laughed, tears forming in his eyes. 

“It would be hilarious Mr. Stark”, Peter responded, a single slice of pizza hanging out of his hand. “Imagine Spider-Man going to shoot his webs, but instead bright pink silly string would come out! Imagine how confused my enemies would be” 

“Ok first”, Tony said, wiping his eyes. “You’re like twelve, the biggest enemy in your life right now is puberty. And second, it’s all fun and games until you forget that you don’t have any actual web fluid and then plummet to your death. I can’t see the headlines now: ‘Spider-Man seen shooting silly string out of his hands moments before plummeting 100 feet to is death.’ Do you know how many PR problems that would cause?” 

Peter was basically rolling out of his chair from laughter at this point, and Tony couldn’t help but grin as well. It was moments like this that he truly missed, when the two of them could just be alone without the prying eyes of the rest of the world baring down on them.

Tony could remember the first time the media caught wind of Peter, and while it wasn’t the last time, it was most definitely the worst. 

Tony had been lazy and hadn’t even tried to disguise himself when he took Peter to a science conference about two months prior. It had been a great day, but then the press had gotten wind of his whereabouts and showed up and got some pictures of Tony leaving the building with a young boy under his arm. 

It was trending in the news for almost three days.  _ Does Stark have a secret son? Young boy seen leaving a science conference with the one and only Tony Stark. Is there a heir to Stark Industries, and has Tony Stark been hiding him from us? _ It seemed headline after headline just kept popping up, and no matter how hard his lawyers worked, they never seemed to slow down. 

Thankfully they hadn’t gotten a picture of Peter’s face, so his identity was safe. That didn’t stop him from getting all worked up about it though, and claiming that he should have known they were coming because of his spider senses and enhanced hearing or something. During those few days of madness Tony had Peter and May stay at the compound just incase, but after three days the story mostly died out and everything went back to normal. 

“Ok ok so no silly string”, Peter said while opening the second box of pizza. “But how about whipped cream?” 

At least as normal as it can get when you’re Tony Stark. 

* * *

They quickly finished the pizza and opted to start movie night early. They could have, of course, gone down to the lab to work on some unfinished projects, but it was their one night alone in the compound and they were not wasting it on something they could do any other day.

Peter had picked the first Harry Potter movie for them to watch, and Tony was trying very hard to follow along with the story. It wasn’t that it was confusing, he just had this continuous nagging in the back of his head telling him that something was wrong or something was going to go wrong. 

But nothing was wrong; the compound was insanely secure and if there was any real emergency Friday would alert him. So he just ignored it for the most part and continued to watch the movie with occasional comments coming from Peter about how they should try to make brooms next time they go down to the lab. 

They were about half way through the third movie when Peter fell asleep. He almost always fell asleep on the couch during movie nights, so Tony wasn’t all that bothered. If anything it was kind of adorable, because his head always ended up on Tony’s chest and he drooled all over his nightshirt. 

Tony knew he should get up and get both himself and Peter to bed, but the movie continued to drone on and the familiar weight on his chest kept him grounded. And before he knew it, he had closed his eyes and drifted off too. 

It seemed whenever Peter was around, Tony was incapable of having nightmares. On this particular night he dreamed about being in a park with Peter and Pepper. There was also a small baby girl in his lap, who he occasionally bounced to keep entertained. Peter was telling Pepper about something that had happened at school while she pulled various food items from a wicker basket. 

_ “I just know that when you’re all grown up you’re going to like chemistry just like your big brother”,  _ Peter said, smiling over at Tony and the baby.  _ “Isn’t that right Morgan” _

Tony chuckled and Morgan cooed as he adjusted her in his arms _. “She’s my flesh-and-blood Peter”,  _ he told the teen. _ “Which means that, by default, she’s going to be a physics girl”  _

Peter pouted, and Pepper laughed as she set the basket to the side.  _ “Or maybe”,  _ she said.  _ “She’ll be like her mother and hate anything to do with sciences” _

Tony and Peter locked eyes before responding in unison.  _ “Absolutely not”  _

The dream was so realistic, and as Tony drifted back into consciousness he couldn’t help but want to hold onto it. 

But something was wrong, that same nagging fell from before was back, and Tony knew he couldn’t drift back into unconsciousness while Peter could be in trouble. So as hard as it was, Tony slowly opened his eyes and tried to understand what was freaking him out so much. 

Light shone through the compounds big windows, which meant that it was morning now. And the weight on his chest reassured him that Peter was still next to him. He quietly yawned and used his free hand to rub his eyes as he looked down at Peters sleeping figure. Than he made the huge mistake of looking up. 

“Tony?”, the confused voice of Steve Rodgers asked. “What’s going on here?” 

All the Ex-Avengers who had left the previous day, were all now standing in the living room staring down at Tony and the teen in his arms. Every single one of Tony’s biggest fears were all suddenly crashing down on him and he was starting to find it hard to breath.

Then, Peter choose that very second to start stirring and waking up. Everyone watched in silence as Peter’s eyes opened and panic mixed with confusion set on his face as he realized what was going on. His eyes got comically big, and he instinctively leaned closer into Tony. 

“Dad?”, Peter asked, still half asleep. “What’s happening?”

Oh yeah, this was going to be a fun one to talk their way out of. 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finally, after four chapters I got to the part I described in the story summary.
> 
> Also I didn’t edit this so I apologize for any spelling or grammar errors.


	5. Surprises

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Rogues return home early, and are met with a sight none of them can believe.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hate this chapter but I don’t want to re-write it so enjoy

Steve Rogers was used to surprises.

Seeing his new body after getting the super soldier serum, yeah that was a pretty pleasant surprise. Finding out that Bucky was still alive, not only once but twice, also a nice surprise. Even learning that Tony had worked his ass off to get all of them pardoned while they had been on the run, and convinced the government to allow them back into the states. Incredibly surprising.

But nothing could compare, with walking into the compound one Saturday morning, and finding Tony Stark cuddled up with a teenage boy on the living room couch.

Ever since they had gotten back, Tony had been pretty distant. He would only really talked to them when necessary, and found every opportunity to leave the compound that he could. He also spent an ungodly amount of time down in his personal lab, working on lord knows what for hours and hours on end. Only emerging for occasional food or beer.

So Steve decided that he probably wouldn’t care if they came home a day earlier than planned. They had gone to visit Clint, who was no longer on house arrest but had still decided to stay with his family, but then his youngest son had gotten sick so they all decided it would be best to just reschedule the visit. Steve knew he probably should have sent Tony a message about them coming back so early, but Tony barely ever answered his phone so he just assumed it would be a waste of time.

They had all gotten home only about twenty minutes ago, and were all equally shocked by the sight that welcomed them back.

There was all a half empty bowl of now-stale popcorn sitting in the coffee table, and two empty boxes of pizza on the kitchen counter. A beige backpack was hung up on one of the kitchen chairs, and precalculus and chemistry homework was covering almost the entirety of the table.

Wanda was the first to find the pair, as she headed into the living room first while everyone else worked on unloading the Quinjet. She had planned on grabbing a quick snack before going back to help the others, but the man the unexpected sight had stopped her right in her tracks.

The boy looked no older than sixteen, and asleep he could have passed for even younger. For a split second she had the sudden urge to reach out and read his mind just to find out how old he really was, but then quickly stopped herself. They were trying to resolve things, and invading this boys privacy would do nothing to help that. It didn’t matter that she didn’t know who he was, because if Stark let him cuddle up with him then he was obviously important to the older man.

As quietly as she could, Wanda quickly ran back to the loading bay to fill the others in on the situation. Of course, nobody believed her st first, and they all ended up leaving their baggage next to the still-running plane to go investigate the scene in the living room.

When Steve walked in and saw Tony, he almost didn’t recognize him. The man looked so… relaxed. So unbothered and content. A small smile was pasted across his lips, which was sight that barely any of the Rogues ever had the pleasure of seeing. During their entire stay so far, they had only heard Tony laugh once, and it was during breakfast when Natasha had made some sort of stupid joke. Tony had been on his 36th hour without sleep, and had let out a quick laugh before returning to his coffee.

Once the shock of seeing Tony so relaxed faded away, Steve finally noticed the boy. He was mostly obscured by Tony’s arm, but a few tuffs of curly brown hair were sticking out, along with about half of his face. He looked equally relaxed, and the two of them fit together almost like two puzzle pieces. Steve had never seen Tony as a man who liked affection, but these two looked like they had been doing this their entire lives.

“What the?”, Sam whispered. “What the hell is a kid doing here?”

“I’m not sure”, Natasha responded quietly, slowly approaching the pair. “He doesn’t look familiar to me”

Tony choose that moment to start moving, and almost looked sad to have to be waking up. First his eyes fluttered open slightly before closing again, then he stretched with his free arm and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, and finally he actually opened his eyes.

He somehow didn’t notice the group at first, instead looking down at the boy in arms. His gaze was full of such love and affection, that Steve almost couldn’t believe he was looking at Tony. The only other time he had ever seen him look at someone like that, was whenever Pepper would come around during Avengers meetings or just while they were hanging out. Whoever this kid was, he must have been incredibly important to Tony.

Finally, Tony looked up and noticed the group standing in front of him. His emotions were hard to read at first. He almost seemed confused for a second, before that look evolved to anger, and eventually ended on panic. They had obvious walked in on something that Tony never wanted them to see, and Steve was suddenly wishing that he wouldn’t have been dumb and just sent a message to him saying that they were coming home early.

“Tony?”, Steve asked, trying to keep his voice calm. “What’s going on here?”

Tony almost looked like he was about to answer, but right as he slightly opened his mouth, the boy in his arms started to stir.

When he opened his eyes, Steve couldn’t help but think how much they looked like Tony’s. Even full of tiredness, they were both that rich brown color, and you could tell from just looking at them that they were filled with knowledge. They also held that same look of confusion, which eventually turned to panic as his eyes landed on Steve and the rest of the Rogues.

“Dad?”, the boy said groggily. “What’s happening?”

It was though three words that made Steve stopped dead in his tracks, because **dad** ? This kid had just called Tony Stark dad, which could only mean one thing; this was Tony’s **kid**.

From what he could tell, the others were having similar reactions. Never in a million years would any of them have picture Tony Stark as a father to anyone. Not the man who would spend 72 hours in his lab without sleep or a break. Not the man who flew around in a tin can beating up aliens and stopping crime. And definitely not the man who Steve had almost beaten to death in Siberia. There was no way that man could have a living, breathing child, but the proof was sitting right in front of them.

Then, suddenly, the pieces slowly started fitting themselves together. After all, before Iron Man came along, Tony had made some bad choices and had some pretty wild party days. Not to mention in the past two weeks he had been disappearing at random times during the day, with no explanation as to wear he was going. And that could even explain the black car the Natasha saw pull into the back of the building every Wednesday and Friday.

But none of those could explain why they had never heard of the child until now, or why Tony had kept him a secret for so long. It could have been a new development, but the pair already seemed very familiar and comfortable with each other, like they’d know each other for many years. Besides, Tony was constantly in the media for anything and everything, so it would be pretty hard to hide a child from that for nearly fifteen something years.

Whatever the case may be, none of that mattered at the moment because Tony now seemed full conherant and Steve had no idea what he would do next, now that his apparent biggest secret had gotten out.

Another one of the biggest surprises in Steve’s life was when he came out of the ice and found himself seventy years in the future. Every since he would always think about how long he’d been gone and how much he’d missed; and now, standing in the compounds living room and looking at Tony’s kid, that same exact thought crossed his mind once again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was kind of filler but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless


	6. Reveal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peters a lil shit at times

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I actually love this chapter. I wrote it while half asleep so I hope there’s no obvious spelling or grammar errors.

Before he even woke up, Peter knew something was off. Even though he could tell there was no imminent danger, his spidey senses were going through the roof.

Even with the forewarning, it was still incredibly shocking to wake up and find the Avengers starring down at him as he slowly emerged from unconsciousness. He had to blink a few times to make sure he wasn’t still dreaming, but nope, he was fully awake and they were still there.

More than anything that just made him… confused? Mr. Stark had said they weren’t supposed to be back until tomorrow, which could only mean one of two things; Tony and Peter had either A). slept a lot longer than originally believed, or B). the others came home earlier than they said they were going to. Peter was leaning much more towards the second scenario. 

He could feel Tony’s arms wrap tighter around him as Steve’s eyes continued to dart between the two of them, confusion sketched on all of their faces. 

Then somehow, Peter managed to make the situation ten times worse than it already was. 

“Dad?”, he asked drowsily, not fully realizing what he had just said. “What’s going on” 

He watched everyone's faces change from confusion to disbelief, and realized a second to late what he had just said. In that moment he wanted to scream, because not only had he just called Mr. Stark dad to his face, but he had also done it in front of the freaking Avengers. 

“Steve what the hell?”, Tony growled, grabbing Peter by the arm and pulling him off the couch. “Ever heard of this thing called knocking, or god forbid sending a text message” 

Steve seemed to be having trouble forming a sentence, along with the rest of the group who had found themselves in the living room. Tony had somehow managed to position Peter behind his back, mostly out of view from the others, and never let up the death grip he had on his arm. The room went deathly silent for a moment and with Peter’s advanced hearing, he could pick up the rapid beating coming from both his and Tony’s hearts. 

“What is this?”, Natasha whispered. “We leave for a few years and you adopt a kid? What the hell Tony?” 

Tony took a deep breath, and both him and Peter could tell he was about to say something they would both regret later. “Ever heard of this thing called privacy?”, Tony asked them, and Peter swore he could feel his heart stop for a minute. “I’m not sure if you know, but outside of this compound and the Avengers, I actually do have a person life. You were just over at Clint’s, maybe ask him about it sometime” 

Why wasn’t he denying it? It would be so easy for Tony to tell him that Peter wasn’t really his kid, but he wasn’t.

“Tony, you having a kid is a pretty damn big secret to keep from us”, Steve told him, as Peter tried to slowly peek out from behind Tony’s back. “I thought when the team got back together we swore to stop keeping secrets. Was that not what tore us apart last time?”

Peter could feel Tony’s breath hitch at the mention of his parents death, and now Peter was starting to get angry as well. What right did they have to walk in here and cause Mr. Stark more stress than he already had? This was first and foremost, Tony and Peter’s home, and he wasn’t about to allow some Rogue Avengers to ruin their perfect weekend before it had even started. 

“Oh yeah”, Peter said, instantly gaining everyone attention. “Because any dad would want to introduce his kid to the people who betrayed and tried to kill him” 

He wanted to slap himself the second he said it, but the look of pride he got from Tony almost made it worth it. Not to mention that Steve looked almost… ashamed? Guilty? Peter wasn’t sure what to call the emotions that went across the soldiers face, but he knew he had struck a nerve. 

“What’s your name?”, Wanda sudden asked, trying to change the subject in the room to a lighter topic. And it took Peter a moment to realize she was talking to him. 

“Peter”, he replied quietly, looking over at Tony to make sure it was ok. “My names Peter” 

“It’s nice to meet you Peter”, Wanda responded with a small smile. 

Peter smiled back at her, as Tony finally let go of his arm. “Ok that’s enough introductions for one day”, he told the group, walking towards the kitchen. “We’re leaving and are going to be in the city all day so called or text if you need anything. Also, there’s a technician coming to look at some stuff on the third floor around noon, so try not to bug him. And-” 

Tony continued to fill the other Avengers in on stuff that would be happening around the compound as Peter went to his room to get dressed. The events of the last few minutes of his life were just starting to catch up with him and he resisted the urge to flop onto his bed and scream into his pillow. He had called Tony Stark dad; one of his biggest fears had been realized, and the craziest part, Tony hadn’t even seemed to care. He played  **along** with it.

He got dressed into a simple gray T-shirt and jeans, and found his pair of worn converse shoved under his bed. It was a cooler day outside, so he went to grab the sweatshirt he had hanging on his desk chair and could have laughed out loud when he realized which one he had grabbed. It was one of Tony’s old sweatshirts he had stolen from the lab one night, and had ‘ _ Stark _ ’ written on the back in faded lettering. Maybe it wasn’t the  _ best  _ sweatshirt to wear considering the situation he had just gotten himself into, but it was the only clean one in his room and the comfiest he had.

Right as he pulled the sweatshirt over his head, a knock sounded at his door. “Hey Peter, it’s me”, Tony’s familiar voice said from the other side of the wood. “Can I come in?” 

Peter nodded his head before realizing Mr. Stark couldn’t see him. “Uh- yeah, come on in” 

The door slowly opened and Tony peaked his head in. “Hey kiddo”, he said gently while walking into the room. “How you holding up?” 

Peter sat down on his bed and Tony quickly joined him, throwing a lazy arm over his shoulders. “Fine I guess”, he admitted. “I’m still a little shaken up but it’s not like I haven’t met them before” 

Tony laughed at the mention of Germany, even though it wasn’t a memory he was exactly fond of. “I’m not talking about the Avengers kid”, he told the teen. “I’m talking about the you calling me dad part” 

Even though Peter knew this conversation was coming, it didn’t help the embarrassment that flooded his body. “I guess it just kind of slipped out”, Peter said, avoiding eye contact with Tony. “It’s just that ever since the other have gotten back, you’ve just been acting so  _ parental  _ like. Even more so than before. And I guess I let that get into my mind, and now because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut you have to clean up more of my messes” 

Tony’s heart broke a little at the sight of Peter so upset; the poor boy looked like he was about to cry. “Hey hey hey”, Tony said, trying to sound as gentle as he could. “I’m not angry with you Pete, I swear I’m not, but I need you to answer me honestly. Do you see me as a father figure?” 

Peter instictly curled up into Tony’s side as he silently nodded his head. “I’m sorry Mr. Stark, I know it’s probably really weird”

Tony could’ve believe how bad this kids insecurities were. It’s obvious that this topic had been eating at him for days, and possibly weeks, and Tony wished they could have approached this subject under better circumstances. He knew Peter looked up to him, both as Iron Man and Tony Stark, but he’d never have expected this from the kid. 

Then he thought about all the times he had almost referred to Peter as ‘his kid’ when talking to other people, or the times when he would sit at the kitchen table for hours and help Peter with homework. There was also the times when the two would go out to dinner followed by a movie, and both Pepper and May would grill him out for letting Peter stay out so long on school days. 

Peter trusted him enough to call him from the nurses office at school with a 102 degree fever and knew that Tony would speed over to Midtown as fast as humanly possible. And Tony trusted Peter enough to call him at 11pm on a Tuesday night to complain about something the other Avengers had done that day, only to then yelled at him for still being up so late. 

Somewhere between Germany and now, they two had become father and son, whether it was genetic or not, and neither had seemed to fully realize it. 

“Come here”, Tony said, enveloping Peter into his arms. “Don’t you ever apologize for being honest with me. I’m here to help and support you, and I can’t do that if you don’t trust me” 

Tony could feel wet spots on his shirt from where Peter was starting to cry. “I know Mr. Stark”, he sniffled. “I just don’t want you to think that you have to be my dad of anything  just because of some stupid stuff I said when I was half asleep. I don’t want to put that kind of stress on you” 

Tony rubbed circles on the boys back as he carefully choose his nexts words. “Pete, no matter what you do in life you’re always going to cause me stress, it’s just part of your charm”, he was able to relax a little bit when he felt the boy start to laugh quietly against his chest. “But if you see me as a father figure in your life, then I can’t think of any higher compliment you could have ever given me” 

Peter lifted his head from Tony’s chest and looked up at him. “What do you mean?” 

“I mean”, Tony said, running his fingers through Peters tangled curls. “Is that you are the most selfless, caring, and brave person I have ever met, and it would be an honor to be called your dad” 

A wide grin spread across Peters face and he couldn’t stop the tears that rolled down his cheeks. “Do you really mean that?” 

“Every word kiddo”, he assured the boy. “I meant every word” 

 

“So what do you think the story is?”, Natasha asked Steve as the two of them stood in the kitchen later that day. “Love child who he just recently found out about? Alien from a different planet who he found and adopted? A kid that he’s somehow managed to hide from the public eye since the day he was born?” 

Steve only rolled his eyes as Sam piped up from the living room. “Maybe it’s some sort of PR stunt, like adopt an orphan day or something” 

“Ok  **enough** ”, Steve yelled from the kitchen, instantly shutting both Nat and Sam up. “I get that we’re all curious over Stark's kid, but we can’t just be throwing out random accusations. God knows he has ears listening in on every part of this building”

Tony and Peter had left the compound a little under an hour ago, leaving the remaining Avengers to theorize about him in peace. It’s not every day you lean that your co-worker has a secret kid (or kids, in Clint’s case) so they were naturally intrigued by the whole situation and wanted to learn more about Peter. How old is he? Does he live at the compound? Does he have any other family? Is Tony his biological dad or is he adopted?

“He’s a good kid”, Wanda said, holding a cup of hot chocolate. “I can tell” 

That ended the conversation and nobody else talked about Peter that day, not even when they watched the pair come home and walk directly back into the lab. But the same thought continued to circle through all their minds for the rest of the night. 

_ Where did he come from? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finally have all the chapters for this story lined out, which also means this story is already half over. Also, did anyone else catch the Crash Landing reference I put in there (my other Irondad story)?


	7. Bonding

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony decides to run from his adult responsibilities by hanging out with Peter, and Rhodey has to deal with the curious Avengers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead!!! Sorry for the lack of updates recently, I suddenly got super sick so I've been lying in bed trying to recover for the past four days. However now I'm better and able to write again, so I hope you enjoy this chapter!

“No way dude!”, Ned basically screamed, as him and Peter ate lunch at their usual table. “That’s amazing!” 

“Shhhhh”, Peter shushed him, glancing wearily over to wear Flash and his friends sat. “I don’t need the whole school to know… not that they’d believe me or anything, but still! If this gets out Flash will never let me live it down” 

“But this is so cool”, Ned half whispered, trying to keep his voice down. “You met the  **freaking** Avengers man” 

“Well technically I’ve already met them once before…”, Peter started, but stopped once he realized he was only egging Ned on. “But that’s not the point, the point is that you cannot tell  **anyone** , and I mean it” 

“Ok ok”, Ned said, glumly returning to his food. “But just imagine how cool we would be if people knew” it 

“This isn’t about popularity Ned”, Peter replied, as he took another bite out of his peanut butter sandwich. “I wasn’t even supposed to meet them in the first place, it was a complete accident”

He hadn’t even mentioned the worse accident that was a result of the Rogue Avengers barging in on him and Mr. Stark while they were still half asleep. As far as Peter was concerned, they were still under the impression that he was Tony’s son who he had somehow kept hidden for the better part of fifteen years, and he wasn’t sure how him and Mr. Stark were suppose to resolve that one. On one side, they definitely did not suspect he was Spider-Man, but on the other they fully believed that Tony was his dad, and he wasn’t sure which was worse.

The lunch bell rang, and Peter continued with his day like normal. After lunch he went to precalculus (which he hated), than he went to US History (which he also hated), and finally he got to chemistry (which he loved). And while now he had the opportunity to work in Tony Stark’s top of the line and completely up to date lab, he still preferred to work on his web formulas there. 

Maybe it was the nostalgia, or maybe it was just because he already knew everything the teacher was teaching, but he always seemed do his best work there. So until they day that he got caught and his greatest secret in life was revealed to his entire class, he would continue to not pay attention to the lesson and instead test new formulas under his desk. 

When the final bell rang for the day, Peter quickly grabbed his bag from his locker, and after saying a quick goodbye to Ned, ran out the front doors of the school were he knew a black Audi would be waiting for him. Happy always parked just a tad farther down the road from all the other cars, just out of fear of being recognized, but today the familiar car was parked right front and center; directly in the middle of the pick up zone. 

Peter thought that it must just be a very similar looking car, and that Happy was probably just running a little late. But then the person in the front seat rolled down the tinted windows, and in the driver's seat sat the one and only Tony Stark. 

Still perplexed, Peter ran towards the car and tried to get in and close the door before any of his classmates or passerby's could see him. 

“Hey kiddo”, Tony said, as Peter put on his seat belt. “How was school?” 

“Fine”, Peter said, somewhat suspicious. “Why are you picking me up? I thought that was Happy’s job” 

“I gave Happy the day off”, Tony told him, as he pulled the car out of the pick-up lane and onto the actual road. “He’s just seemed so stressed out recently, and besides, I’m your dad now. Don’t most dads pick up their kids from school?” 

Peter’s face went red at the mention of his slip up from the previous weekend. “You know I didn’t mean it like that”, Peter mumbled. “I thought we went over this” 

Tony chuckled as they drove away from the school. “Yeah we did, but you get so flustered when you’re embarrassed and I couldn’t help myself”, he admitted to the teen. “And… I guess this is also an apology, because I’m using you to get out of my adult responsibilities again” 

Peter perked up at that. “Huh?”, he asked, as Tony turned down a road that lead in the complete opposite direction of the compound. “What do you mean?” 

“It means that instead of going to a very important Avengers meeting tonight, me and you are going to have some father-son bonding time”, he told Peter, pushing his sunglasses up onto his forehead. “I really don’t feel like facing Cap and the rest of them after our little standoff on Saturday, so Pepper and Rhodey agreed to cover for me while you and I go out and get Chinese food” 

Peter’s heart plummeted to his stomach at the mention of Pepper and Rhodey. “Did you tell them?”, he asked, not really wanting to know the answer. 

“I’m sorry kiddo but I had to”, he told Peter, who went red from embarrassment again. “I couldn’t have them blow our cover, and besides, they think it’s adorable”

“Of course they do”, Peter mumbled, remember all the times Pepper had cooed over how cute they always were together. “Now Pepper will  **really** have something to tease us about. And Rhodey- oh god he’s probably having a field day”

Tony couldn’t help but laugh at his comments, and Peter even let out a small smile. Yeah, the experience had been incredibly embarrassing, but Mr. Stark still wanted him around and was even trying to preserve their lie. Maybe making the Rogue Avengers think that Peter was Tony’s son wasn’t the greatest plan they ever had, but for now it worked AND it gave Tony a great excuse to leave the compound at any given time. 

For the rest of the car ride they chatted about anything and everything that didn’t have to do with the Rogue Avengers -like how Peter was doing in school, his new ideas for the web shooter, and even some funny stories about things he saw on patrol- until they pulled up to their destination.

“People really do do dumb stuff when they think they’re alone”, Peter laughed as he retold a story to Tony. “Like this man was literally about to rob a bank and he was  **stretching** ”

Tony laughed as well, as he parked the car next to a busy looking Chinese place. “I don’t know about you, but if I was being chased by police I definitely wouldn’t want to get a cramp”, he said while unbuckling his seat belt. “Now come on, I’m starving”

* * *

“So how long have you known”, Natasha asked Rhode, as he walked into the conference room for their weekly Avengers meeting.

“Hmm?”, Rhodey asked, raising an eyebrow at the group of superheroes who sat around the circular table. “What do you mean” 

“Peter”, Steve said, leaning back slightly in his chair. “How long have you known about Peter?” 

“Oh so you finally found out”, Rhodey smiled, remembering the conversation him and Tony had had the day prior. “Took you long enough honestly”

“This isn’t a joke Rhodes”, Steve said, furrowing his eyebrows. “This is a real, living child who Tony not only hid from us, but also the rest of the world. Don’t you think this is something the whole team should have known about?” 

“So Barton is the only one who’s allowed to have a secret family?”, Rhodey asked, and noticed how uncomfortably silent the room suddenly got at his words. “Tony cares so much about Peter, and maybe if you would get your heads out of your asses for one second you would be able to realize that he’s only trying to protect him” 

Rhodey’s phone buzzed, and everybody turned to look at him as he opened the picture that Tony had just sent him. It was of Peter, who obviously hadn’t realized that his picture was being taken, because his mouth was full of Chinese food and he looked to be mid-laugh. The photo was also slightly blurry, which meant that Tony was able probably laughing whilst trying to take the picture. 

_ Wish you were here Honeybear  _ ❤❤❤, Tony texted him only a few seconds after the picture had sent, and Rhodey couldn’t help but snort at his smart-ass comment. 

“Speaking of which”, Rhodey continued, looking up from his phone. “Tony won’t be able to make it to this meeting tonight” 

He could hear Sam groan, and Natasha looked more confused than she did angry. “Why? He’s never missed a meeting before”, she asked. 

“Something happened with Peter at school”, he lied, remembering the cover story him and Tony had come up with earlier in the day. “He didn’t give me exact details but he had to go pick the kid up from school, so he probably won’t get back until late” 

Steve seemed irritated, but after what Rhodey had said he knew not to push the topic. “Well then if he’s not coming than we might as well get this meeting started” 

They started by talking about some of the bigger issues they were currently having with the updated accords, and within five minutes of meeting Rhodey was already starting to get incredibly bored.  

_ Kept up your lie for you,  _ he texted Tony from under the table,  _ You owe me BIG time _

The only response he got was another picture of Peter, only this time he was staring at the camera with the biggest grin ever plastered across his face, and little bits of soy sauce running down his chin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave any Irondad suggestions you'd like to see in the comments below. I do have a basic story line I'm following for this story, but I'd love to put some of your guys requests in as well!


	8. Family

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pepper contemplates whether or not she wants a baby.

“No no Pep turn in here”, Tony yelled in her ear as they drove down the busy Queens road. “Oh, and that was the turn. Now we’re going to have to turn around”

“Well maybe”, Pepper fumed, getting increasingly irritated with her fiance. “If you were better at giving driving directions we wouldn’t have missed it”

“Oh so you’d rather blame the person giving the directions, rather than the one who’s actually driving the car?”, Tony asked, as they both looked for a good place to turn around.

Pepper thought for a moment before responding. “ **Yes** ”, she replied, while turning into some random driveway off the side of the road. “That’s exactly what I’m saying”

Tony scuffed and looked down at his phone as someone texted him. “There’s literally signs pointing in the direction of the school and not to mention the multiple other cars also coming to collect their kids, it’s pretty hard not to notice”

Pepper smiled slightly, and didn’t even tease Tony for referring to Peter as ‘their kid’. “Why are we even here? Don’t you have like three meetings tonight?”

“It’s Wednesday Pep”, Tony told her, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. “I always take Peter out for dinner on Wednesday’s. It’s like a… family tradition”

She didn’t even try to hide the large grin that spread across her face. “Ok then let me rephrase; why am I here?”

“Because it’s **family** night, and in a few months you’re marrying me so that technically means your part of this family. “Tony told her as they pulled up to the school. “I also want to bring Rhodey along one of these days”

She laughed and Tony glared over at her. “Your logic makes no sense”, she joked. “Are you going to marry Rhodey as well? Or adopt Peter?”

He knew she was joking, but Tony froze up at her words. _Adopt Peter?_ Yeah he was currently pretending to be the kids dad and May thought it was absolutely adorable, but he doubt she would be that happy if he tried to adopt the kid.

“Tony?”, Pepper asked, knocking him out of his trance. “Which lane do I pull into?”

“Uhh”, Tony mumbled, trying to get this thoughts in order. “He usually comes out the east door, but he likes it when Happy parks a little off to the side so that he doesn’t draw too much attention to himself”

Pepper pulled off to the curb about thirty feet from the door, right as a sea of children piled out from inside. It was so domestic, just the two of them sitting outside a school, waiting for their accident prone pseudo son to come out to the car. 

While it had been somewhat of a shocker at first, when she had found out that Tony and Peter had accidentally managed to convince the Rogue Avengers that they were father and son, she had laughed until she cried.

Then, after she composed herself, she had called May, who also proceeded to laugh so hard that her next door neighbor had to come over to make sure she was ok.

And later that night, when Tony had come to bed after a long day of working in the lab, she whispered a quiet _goodnight dad_ which earned her a solid smack to the face with a pillow.

If Pepper was being honestly, she was ecstatic that Tony and Peter were finally accepting their obvious roles of father and son. Ever since Peter started coming over regularly, she noticed how much more parental and _dad-like_ Tony had gotten. The way he wouldn't let Peter down into the lab until he got an afternoon snack, or how he would carefully carry him off to his off bed when he would fall asleep on the couch while watching movies.

There was also the times he would get hurt on patrol, and Tony would go absolutely crazy. It didn't matter if it was a small scratch on his forehead or a four inch gash across his stomach (which were both injured he had stumbled into the Compound with), because if Peter was hurt Tony went into full dad mode.

He hated it when Pepper called his freaking out 'dad mode'. He would claim that he was just looking out for the kid because if anything ever happened to him May would actually murder him. He would tell her that it wasn't his fault that the kid had zero self preservation skills and was going to give him a heart attack one of these days.

He loved the kid, he really did. Pepper knew because he looked at him the same way he looked at her or Rhodey; knowing that he would truly do anything to protect him.

And Pepper loved him to, and so did Rhodey, and so did literally everyone who ever met him (except for maybe the criminals he webbed up). Even Happy, who she knew would rather do anything else than pick up a teenager from school 3 times a week, had a soft spot for the boy. He just had the ability to break down your boundaries and melt your heart.

So when he came bounding out of the school building, backpack in hand, Pepper realized that this is what it must feel like to be a parent.

Pepper never wanted kids, and neither did Tony so it worked out fine, or at least it did until Peter Parker had crashed into their lives. Now suddenly they were fighting like an old married couple, Pepper was teasing Tony for acting like a dad, and Tony was having dreams about them having a **baby**.

“Pepper?”, Peter questioned as he opened the cars door. “What are you doing here”

She could remember their conversation in the park so vividly. “ _You know how you’re having a dream, and in the dream you gotta pee?”_

“Tony wanted me to tag along for family night”, she told him, as she pulled the car away from the curb. “Apparently Wednesday dinners is some kind of tradition of yours that I was unaware of”  

“ _Last night, I dreamt we had a kid”,_ he had told her, nearly making her heart stop. “ _So real”_

“I hope you’re ok with this Peter”, Tony said, turning around to look at the boy in the backseat. “Pepper didn’t have any meetings today so I thought I’d be nice for the three of us to do something”

“ _We need him after your eccentric uncle. Uh what was his name?... Morgan! Morgan.”_

“No! It’s awesome Mr. Stark”, Peter told them, clicking his seat belt into place. “I was just a little surprised at first”

_“I had another one last night”,_ Tony had whispered to her a week or so later. _“Another dream about… Morgan”_

"Well anywhere in particular you guys would like to go?", Pepper asked, as Tony typed something into his phones GPS. "I would assume you already have a place picked out"

"Already on it", Tony told her, as directions to an Italian restaurant popped up on the cars map.

* * *

 " _If you wanted a baby, then you wouldn't have done this"_

Ever since Tony had brought it up at the park, that  _stupid_ baby dream was all Pepper could think about. 

The more she thought about it, the more realistic the idea became. Her and Tony were getting married, and they were both still young  _enough_ that it would be unheard of for them to have a kid. Not to mention that it would be nice for SI to have a blood heir if Peter ended up not wanting to inherit the company.

_"It was perfect Pepper",_ Tony had told her.  _"It was just you, me, Peter, and the baby at the park, just relaxing and enjoying life. That could be us, we could be a **family** " _  
  
There had been so many times in her life, where Pepper had truly believed that she lost Tony. If it wasn't Afghanistan, than it was a worm hole. Or their own house being blasted into the ocean. She knew they could never lead a  _normal_ life; after all he was Tony Stark and she was the CEO to the worlds largest tech company. Any world they brought a baby into would be chaotic and dangerous, so could she really resign a child to that kind of fate? 

But then she thought about the way Tony looked at Peter, and how refreshingly mundane it felt to wait in that school parking lot. How hard she had laughed when Peter got a spaghetti noddle stuck up his nose at the restaurant and Tony had to help him blow it out onto a napkin. The way Tony had referred to Peter as 'their kid', and made her come along on their weekly dinner trip. It almost had felt like they were a real family  

"You ok Pepper?", Tony asked as he walked into the living room, starling her slightly. "You seemed kind of spaced out there" 

She hadn't even realized that she had just been sitting there, staring at the black TV for god knows how long. "Yeah yeah", Pepper said quickly, standing up to walk over to Tony. "Sorry just... lost in thought I guess" 

When she got close enough, Tony snaked his arms around her hips and pulled her closer. "About what?", he asked, planting a kiss on her cheek. "What's going on in that brilliant mind of yours"

She though for a second, about everything that had been going on the last few months; Peter's sudden appearance in their lives, the baby dreams, and now the thoughts of them having an actual family. She could always lie to him, make up some bullshit excuse about things going on at SI, or just say that she's tired. But they were working on their communication skills with each other, and that meant having to be honest. 

"I...", Pepper faltered, not sure how to exactly phrase her next sentence. "I think I want a baby"

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love mom Pepper. I really do.
> 
> Please just give them a baby already.
> 
> If I, theoretically, made a spin off series around baby Morgan, would any of you be interested in seeing that? While this particular story made come to an end I'm planning on a few other connected stories and I'd love to know what you guys would want to see.


	9. Failure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter attempts to stop a bank heist.
> 
> It doesn't go as planned.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: Slight mentions of blood and threats.
> 
> Also I didn't really edit this so I hope there is no obvious grammar or spelling errors. If there is, sorry!

“What are we looking at Karen”, Peter asked his AI as he looked down at the streets of Queens. It had been an incredible slow day for the spider boy, as he had only webbed up two criminals in the past five hours and had helped two lost tourist with directions. Needless to say, he was getting bored.

“Suspicious activity has been reported down at a bank about half a mile from here”, Karen responded, as some different statistics started flashing across his field of vision. “Video surveillance shows that about 10 minutes again a group of four men entered the bank and started threatening the tellers. The police were called but they have yet to arrive.” 

Before she could even finish talking, Peter had already shot a web towards the nearest building and was flying through the air towards the bank in question. In a twisted sort of way, he was actually excited that some interesting crime was going down for once. One person can only stop bicycle thieves and pickpocketers so many times before it gets boring and repetitive.

The streets of Queens had been much quieter than usual in the past few weeks, which both relieved and frightened Peter. Less crime meant that he was doing his job well, and Mr. Stark always talked about how the end goal was for them was to achieve peace and not have to do this anymore. 

But throughout the two years Peter had been doing this, he had never done so little whilst on patrol.

“Any other people in the bank?”, Peter asked, as he saw the building on the horizon. 

“The security tapes show that two other patrons and three employees are currently in the establishment as of right now”, she informed him. “The men threatening them all have guns and I believe one also has a concealed knife in his back pocket. I would proceed with caution.” 

He arrived at the doors of the bank only to find them locked, which meant that these men weren’t complete idiots when it came to pulling off a heist. “How far out are the police?”, he asked, scanning to find another way into the building.

“No office has been dispatched to this area yet”, Karen told him, making him swear softly under his breath.

“Well alert them again and try to get them here as fast as possible”, Peter told her as he started to scale the stone wall. “Now where’s the quickest entrance into this building?” 

With Karen’s help, Peter was able to find a grate on the roof that would lead him straight into the main lobby of the bank. From the live footage that Karen was showing him, Peter knew that he didn’t have a whole lot of time left before the men would start getting irritated and possibly shoot someone. 

“Please”, he could faintly hear one of the tellers cry. “It’s a timed vault so it I can’t get you the money until six o’clock tomorrow morning. All I can give until then is the stuff in the register.”

“I don’t want your  **bullshit** excuses”, the man who, Peter assumed, was in charge said. “Get me that money right now or I swear to god I’ll blow your fucking brains out”

Peter scuffed as he crawled through the narrow vents, trying not to feel claustrophobic with the metal walls surrounding him. It almost made him laugh at the sheer ignorance of the robbers, because everyone knows that once a bank vault locks not even god himself can get it back open.

He flinched when he heard a gunshot go off and a girl started screaming. “That was a warning”, the same man said, making Peter sigh with relief when he realized that no one had been on the other end of that bullet. “But the next one’s going straight into one of your skulls. Any volunteers?”

As he got closer he could hear a lady quietly crying and the fast pulses of the men pulling off the robbery. “Now would be a good time for the cops to get here”, Peter mumbled to his AI, trying not to alert the others of his presence. 

“Authorities are on their way”, Karen responded, lifting a weight off Peter’s shoulders “But I am unsure when they will arrive” 

“As long as they’re coming”, Peter replied as he reached the grate above the lobby. “I don't care if they show up late for the party”

In a flurry of movement, Peter kicked open the gate and dropped to the floor of the bank. If any normal person would have fallen from the height he did, they probably would have broken a bone or two. However, ever since the bite he has found it easier to jump and fall from massive heights without getting hurt or dying.

“Hey fellas”, he quipped, as all guns were suddenly pointed in his direction. “Lovely day we’re having” 

A shot made him jump back, narrowly avoiding the bullet that missed him chest by only a few inches. “Rude”, Peter told the man who tried to shot him, webbing the gun out of his hand and onto the floor. That’s no way to greet a person”

The other men also tried to gun him down but within second all their weapons were spread across the room and they were all webbed to the wooden floor. According to Karen's prediction, the police were about five minutes away from the scene, which gave Peter just the right amount of time to check on the victims and then flee the sight before anyone could question him.

He held out him had to help up an older lady who had taken cover under one of the desks. Everyone seemed relatively unharmed, if not a little shaken up, so Peter decided it would be best for him to get out of there and leave the authorities to deal with the rest. “Thank you so much”, the teller who had been being threaten told him. “That man would have shot me if it wasn’t for you, thank you so much.”

The four other people who were there also said variations of the same thing, and Peter couldn’t help but smile because this was exactly why he wanted to Spider-Man. Because even if he could save one person, and save one person the agony of having to learn that their friend, parent, sibling or  _ uncle  _ would never be coming home again, then it would be worth it. 

He was about to turn to leave, when suddenly his spidey senses started going wild, and before he could even turn around to see what the trouble was, a sharp pain spread down the entirety of his back. 

The man, who Peter had rightfully assumed was the leader, had managed to grab a knife out of his back pocket and cut his way out of the webbing that was holding him onto the floor. Then, while Peters back was turned away from, he managed to dig the knife into the spider-kids lower back causing his to scream out in pain. 

Without even thing, Peter turned and punch the man in the face, which sent him flying across the room. He hit the far wall, and then crumbled to the ground lifeless and unmoving as a thin trickle of blood oozed from his forehead. The knife that was now coated in Peter’s blood was sitting only a few feet away, where it had dropped after the man hit the concrete wall. 

Peter’s vision turned white and all he could feel was the pain coming from his back. He had been stabbed, kicked, and punched before, but this was a new kind of pain that he couldn’t even begin to describe. He could faintly hear Karen reading of his vitals and warning him of his blood lose, but she just sounded like gargon in his ears.

“Mr. Stark has been alerted of your conditions and as been sent your location and vitals”, he heard Karen say in his ear and he wanted to scream because it was Thursday, and Thursdays was date night for Tony and Pepper. The last thing he wanted to do was ruin their night because he had been stupid and got himself stabbed.

“Karen no”, he mumbled, shooting a web towards the ceiling of the bank and tried not to scream when the sudden movement caused another flash of pain to burn throughout his body. “‘m ok I promise” 

“You are not ok Peter”, she informed him, as he somehow made his way back onto the roof. “You are losing blood incredibly quickly and I believe that the knife may have tore into your spinal cord.” 

The edges around Peter’s vision was started to go black and he tried not to panic. He could faintly hear the sounds of sirens in the distant and he knew he had to get somewhere safe where they couldn’t find him. So with the last of his energy and willpower, he swung a few buildings away from the bank, before collapsing onto the roof of one over a block away. 

His breathing was starting to get more shallow, which was only causing him to freak out more and was about to send him into a full blown panic attack. The gravely roof of the building he had landed onto was suddenly the comfiest thing he had ever laid on, and despite Karen recommending that he try to stay awake until Tony arrived, Peter slowly started drifting out of consciousness.  

Before he fully passed out, he could have sworn he heard the sound of the Iron Man suits repulsors and Tony’s panicked voice, but it could have just been his imagination. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry guy's it couldn't be all nice and fluffy forever. The coming angst in this story is a necessary evil. 
> 
> Also, I'm sorry for disappear for a while. With school being over soon everything just suddenly got crazy and I'm trying to keep up with a million things at once, so chapters might be a little bit delayed from now until late May.


	10. Fear

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tony deals with the after effects of Peters injury.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM NOT A DOCTOR OR MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL OF ANY KIND! I know that some of my info is probably inaccurate but if it is please just suspend your disbelief and enjoy the chapter!

Tony was scared; unbelievably and indescribably scared.

He had gotten the alert while at a fancy restaurant with Pepper. It was date night and she had _insisted_ they go to some place where one salad costs almost thirty dollars, and of course Tony had agreed with her. They were sat at an overly large table for only two people, and had white napkins folded across their laps while they ate whatever course had been placed in front of him.

That’s when Friday had spoken to him through the earpiece he wore at all times. “Sir, Spider-Man has suffered a deep lesion on his lower back”, her Irish voice informed him. “He is currently suffering great blood lose and I can detect damage in his spinal cord. I would recommend getting him back the the compound for further medical assistance”

He had jumped up from his seat at the table, scaring a waiter and causing Pepper to raise an eyebrow and confusion, and without another word he had called a suit and was typing in the coordinates to Peter’s location.

Tony had seen the boy with many different injuries and wounds, but landing onto the roof and finding him passed out in a puddle of his own blood what a new kind of horrifying.

“ **Friday** ”, he practically screamed, getting out of the suit and kneeling down next to Peter. “ **Scan him** ”

He gently leaned Peter on his side so he could get a better look at the cut, and gasped when he saw the gaping hole that sat on his lower back. It was bleeding profusely and Tony knew that if he didn’t get him help and quick, he would bleed out right here on the roof of this building.

“The stab wound is his only major injury”, Friday informed him. “However it appears that the blade pierced the bottom portion of his spinal cord causing severe damage. I have already alerted Helen Cho of the situation and she is preparing a medical team back at the compound. I would suggest getting him there as fast as possible”

He didn’t need to be told twice, and before he knew it he had Peter gently cradled in the suits arms and they were speeding towards the compound. Just as Friday had said, Cho and her medical team were waiting with a stretcher at the entrance of the compound, and before he could even say anything Peter was ripped from his arms and wheeled off into the medical bay.

All Tony could do was stand there, feeling numb, as he looked at the blood that stained both of her hands. He was only broken out of his trance when the telltale noise of Peppers heels started echoing up and down the halls.

“Tony”, he heard her call, irritated laced in her voice. “What the hell is going on? Why is Cho here and why did you-”

She stopped talking suddenly when she caught sight of Tony’s broken expression, and her eyes wandered down to the blood on his hands. Her expression went from irritation to concern, and Tony decided that he had never been so happy to see her.

“Pep”, he whispered, trying not to let his voice break. “I’m sorry”

He stumbled forward and she caught him in her arms, pressing his head into her shoulder. A few tears started to slip from his eyes, but neither of them cared that he was crying into Peppers five hundred dollar dress.

“What happened’, she gently asked, running her fingers through his hair. “Who’s blood is that?”

“It’s Peter’s”, he responded, making Pepper freeze in shock. “He must have been patrolling, and he, and-”

He was full on sobbing now, which was something he had only done a handful of times. If it was anyone else besides Pepper, he would probably would have felt embarrassed, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. He wouldn’t even care if the president saw him like this right now, the closest thing he’s ever had to a child was currently in the operation room with a stab wound in his back. He had a right to cry.

“He’s going to be ok”, Pepper assured him, rubbing her hands down his back. “He’s so strong and I promised that no matter what happens he will be ok”

Tony cried harder, remembering the sight of Peter passed out on that roof, his blood soaking through the suit he had designed to keep him safe. “There was so much blood Pepper”, he whispered. “Friday said he has spinal cord damage. I don’t know what to do”

Pepper led him over to a row of chairs, and made him sit down while she ran to get him some water. Throughout the entire endeavor Tony had gotten deathly pale, and she was almost scared that he would end up passing out too.

She ran into the kitchen and came face to face with Steve Rodgers himself. Natasha and Sam were also sitting on breakfast bar and eating what she assumed was their dinner, and they all looked at her curiously.

“Pepper?”, Steve asked, obviously surprised by her unannounced presence. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

“Everything's fine”, she mumbled, trying to steady her shaky hand as she filled the glass cup. She realized how strange she must have looked to them, obviously shaken over something and still dressed to a tee in her formal wear. Her hair was also slightly ruffled from when she had quickly gotten into the car after Tony had fled the restaurant and she had abandoned her shoes somewhere along the way.

Steve gently grabbed her arm and she almost flinched away at the sudden touch. “Pepper”, he said softly. “Where’s Tony?”

As on queue, Tony wandered into the kitchen looking dead on his feet. All eyes darted to him almost immediately and Steve let up his grip on Pepper’s arms. He must have not realized that the other Avengers would be in the room because as soon as his eyes landed on them they filled with regret.

“What’s going on Tony?”, Natasha asked, putting her sandwich back down on the plate. “I saw Cho and her team come in and-”

Her eyes filtered down to the blood on his hands and the room went deathly silent. “Peter got hurt”, he squeaked out, not even caring when his voice cracked on the word _hurt_. “He’s really really hurt”

“Is that… his?”, Sam asked about the blood on his hands, and everyone’s eyes got soft when he slowly nodded.

Pepper walked over to him and carefully handed him the glass of water. “We should get back”, she told him, leading him towards the exit. “I know you’ll want to be there when Helen gets done”

She made him sit back down and slowly sip his water while she made a few calls. Tony didn’t even try to listen to who she was talking to, because as soon as he finished his water, exhaustion overtook him and he fell asleep in the plastic hospital chair.

* * *

Over three hours later, the sun had set and Tony was still passed out in the medical bay waiting room. His cheek was pressed up against the hard plastic of the chair, and a thin line of drool trailed down his cheek.

He woke up when a gently hand shook his shoulder, and quietly whispered his name. “Tony, Tony”, Pepper said, as he slowly opened his eyes. “Peters out of surgery and Helen's here”

He looked up to see the familiar doctor standing over him, her white outfit cleaned of any blood. “Welcome back to the land of the living”, she joked, trying to get a reaction from Tony. “Peter’s ok, he lost a lot of blood but we were able to stabilize him”

Tony had never felt such a huge flood of relief in his entire life, and he almost thought he might start crying again. “He’s going to live?”, he asked, and Helen only nodded.

Peppers arms wrapped around his neck and for the first time in the past few hours he allowed himself to smile. “You can see him soon”, Helen told him. “May’s with him right now, but before you go in there there’s a few things we need to address”

His smile faltered slight, as he waited for the inevitable bad news that accompanied hospital visits. “The weapon entered right at the bottom of his spinal cord”, she informed them, confirming what Tony had already know. “The damage was minimal compared to what it could have been, but we won’t be able to completely assess the damaged until he wakes up”

Both him and Pepper froze, trying to process this new information. “So what’s best case scenario”, Pepper asked, hesitation in her voice.

Helen paused for a moment, figuring out how to phrase her words. “Best case scenario, he wakes up and makes a full recovery”, she told them. “Worst case scenario… he loses all feeling and motor abilities in his legs”

Tony felt like he could breath. _Peter could lose his ability walk? He could lose all feeling in his legs?_

“As of right now I am unable to tell what the outcome might be”, Helen told them quietly, as Tony gripped Peppers hand. “Both are equally possible and until I’m able to assess the damage whilst he’s awake, so we have to wait in order to find out”

He could faintly hear Pepper and Helen having a separate conversation about the situation, but he was too zoned out to listen. All he could do was continually replay the horrifying image of Peter bleeding out on the roof in his head. Later he would stumble down to the lab and download all the footage from his patrol today so that he could find the person responsible and make sure they paid for this, but for now all he could do was stand there in Peppers arms.

“Would you like to see him”, Helen asked them, knocking Tony out of his daydream. “May’s been with him since he got out of surgery but I’m sure she wouldn’t mind you coming to see him”

Tony nodded, and together him and Pepper headed in the direction of the hospital room. The medbay was a place he was pretty well acquainted with, if it wasn’t him being treated there than it was his accident prone spider kid or reckless team mates. Everybody had been treated here at least once throughout their careers as superheros, and that was just the grim truth.  
Pepper led him into the obnoxiously white room, and he did a double take when his eyes landed on Peter. The boy looked… normal. If it wasn’t for the IV coming out of his arm and the heart monitor constantly beeping in the background, Tony could have almost believed that he was just asleep.

May was sitting in a chair next to him, holding his hand and rubbing small circles on it. She barely looked up when Tony and Pepper entered the room, obviously expecting their arrival.

“May…”, Tony started, preparing to apologize to the woman and beg for her forgiveness. That’s what he deserved, this was her nephew and it was because of him that he was lying unconscious in a hospital bed with no clear answered as to if he would really be ok.

“Don’t even start with me Tony”, she replied, gently placing Peters hand back on to his chest. “I know what you’re going to say and I’m going to tell you right now that it’s not true”

She paused, looking lovingly down at the sleeping boy. “You made him so happy Tony”, she whispered, looking him straight in the eyes. “Before you came along he used to come home covered in these cuts and bruises that he tried so hard to hid, but failed every time”

Tony was at a loss for words. “I always assumed he was being bullied and was to scared or embarrassed to mention anything about it. I tried so hard to breach the topic but everytime I brought it up he would shoot me down so fast. For a while I thought I was failing at being a parent”

She took a deep breath and Peppers hand tightened around his own. “You protected him, you support him and mentored him, and for that I will be forever grateful. I’m not sure what’s going to come next, but whatever it is I know you’ll be by his side through it all, and that’s all I can ask of you”

“He’s so strong”, Pepper whispered, making May’s eyes soften. “I know that whatever happens next he’s going to be ok. We’re all going to help him through this”

And for the first time since he found Peter on that rooftop, Tony truly believe that he was going to be ok. They were both going to be ok.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BAM, third to last chapter. I'm actually getting really emotional thinking about this story ending. It is by far the most popular story I have ever published for any fandom, and I am so thankful for all your continuous support and love for this story!
> 
> Also, since it's coming up in only 10 days, I will not be posting any types or spoilers for Endgame in my stories until probably around a month or so after it's released. I was lucky enough to get opening night tickets, but for those who weren't so lucky you don't have to worry about any of my works spoiling the movie for you!
> 
> Thank you for reading!


	11. Recovery

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter wakes up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is how I'm coping with Endgame. 
> 
> I'm not ok.

_“Daddy daddy!”,_ a high pitched voice called from behind him. Tony looked around and found himself standing in what looked like a park. He could feel the sun shining down on his bare arms and the sound of ocean echoed in his ears. The last thing he recall was Pepper forcing him out of Peter’s hospital room to go to bed, so he was beyond confused.

He turned around to see a young girl, probably around four or five, running towards him. The bright blue sun dress she was wearing billowed behind her almost like a cap and she had the brightest grin ever spread across her face. She looked familiar, but Tony couldn’t pinpoint why.

“ _Morgan_ ”, Peppers familiar voice called after her. “ _Leave your father alone. Him and Pete are busy._ ”

Tony turned to his left and found a smiling and uninjured Peter standing next to him. He was wearing a comically large sunhat and smears of sunscreen were spread across his nose and cheeks. For some reason Tony had the sudden instinct to reach out and rub it in, but managed to stop himself.

“ _It’s fine mom_ ”, Peter called back to her. “ _An extra set of hands is always useful. Come on Mo, you can hold the buns._ ”

Tony watched as Morgan jumped into Peter’s outstretched arms, and he lifted her off the ground with ease. The smell of hotdogs filled his nostrils and he suddenly realized that he was holding a spatula and standing over a small grill. Absentmindedly he flipped the food and watched as Peter and Morgan set out all the other food and condiments onto an old looking picnic table.   

“ _Don’t burn them again_ ”, Pepper said, and Tony turned to find her standing next to him. “ _I know Pete will eat almost anything, but even he could barely take a bit out of those burgers you made last week”,_ she joked.

Tony felt himself smiling, and without thinking he started talking. “ _We have some really great kids, don’t we?”,_ He asked, phrasing it more a statement rather than a question.

Pepper planted a kiss on his cheek before replying. “ _Yeah we really do.”_

In the back of his mind, Tony knew that none of this was real; just another cruel, hyper realistic dream. But that didn’t stop him from basking in the peace of the moment.

“ _I found a butterfly on the playground yesterday!_ ”, Morgan told Peter eagerly, making excited gestures with her arms. “ _And it was sooooo pretty, but Ms. Harper told me I couldn’t catch it so instead me and my friends followed it around until it flew back over the fence. Then when we got back inside we drew pictures of it so we would never forget it!_ ”

Peter laughed as he finished setting out all the extra food and helped Tony bring the only slightly burnt hot dogs to the table,  Pepper at his heels. “ _It was orange and black, and really really big_ ”, Morgan continued, not even noticing that food had arrived.

“ _Chow time_ ”, Tony interrupted, placing down the plate containing all the food right in front of the excited little girl. “ _Eat up team._ ”

At the sight of the food, Morgan seemed to forget all about the butterfly, and instead started quickly filling her plate and talking about a movie she had watched at a friends house. Pepper had to scold her once or twice for talking with food in her mouth, but there was no malice behind her words. She seemed more amused by the girls antics than anything else. 

If it was Tony’s choice, he would have stayed in this moment forever. He would have held both of his children tight and made it so nothing ever happened to them.

But reality was not as forgiving, and before he knew it the dream was slowly faded out and the beautiful sunny day was replaced with the beige walls of his bedroom. Pepper was leaning over him, slowly shaking his shoulder and saying his name.

“Tony”, she whispered, and her eyes perked up when she realized he was awake. “Hey, how are you feeling?”, she asked.

Tony groaned as he rubbed at his tired eyes and slowly sat up. “Well I’m not dead yet”, he sorely responded, making Pepper roll her eyes. “What time is it?”

“Five am”, she told Tony, making his eyes widen comically. “You’ve been asleep for almost ten hours”

He turned to look at the small digital clock that sat on his nightstand, and sure enough, it’s dull red colors read 5:06am. Without another word, Tony threw off the blankets that covered his legs and stood up, trying to ignore the way his joints ached at that action.

“Care to tell me why you’ve decided to wake me up at the ass-crack of dawn”, he drowsily asked, attempting to rub the sleep out of his eyes.

Pepper only hesitated for a second before responding. “Peter’s awake”

* * *

 Peter was no stranger when it came to pain.

He could distinctly remember vomiting for nearly three days straight after the spiderbite, and the dull ache that plagued his whole body was he feeling he would not be forgetting anytime soon. It had felt like the flu, and on top of it all his senses had been dialed up so high it was almost unbearable to even think. Then on the third day he had woken up perfectly fine, the only difference being that now he didn’t need glasses and could stick to walls.

Being a vigilante also brought along it’s fair share of injuries, from punches to gun shots; you name it, Peter had probably experienced it. He had been bruised, beaten, and pummeled to the point of unconsciousness. He’d had bullet rip through his skin once or twice, and has even gotten bested by some funky alien technology.

And that night with the Vulture… god that was one he never wanted to relive. The feeling of all those tons of cement pushing down on his small body, making him unable to move or breath. The pain of trying to force air into his lungs so he could attempt to cry for help, hoping for anyone to hear him. The pure desperation that had allowed him to escape, and the heat that radiated from the planes fire as he tried so desperate to rescue Liz's dad.

Even so, none of that could compete with absolute torture of being stabbed in the back. Literally.

The minute he felt that blade pierce his skin, Peter knew he was screwed. The way his body instantly felt like it was burning from the inside out, as it tried to figure out what was happening and why there was a gaping hole at the base of his spin. The way his legs seemed to give out from underneath his as he desperately climbed back onto the roof of that stupid bank.

Than Karen had called Mr. Stark, and he couldn’t recall anything after that. All Peter knew was that he was still in pain, and nothing would make it go away.

He could hear voices through the darkness, but they were distant and hard to make out. He swore he heard May talking, and possibly Pepper as well? The voices were so distorted it was a miracle he could even hear them at all, let allow figure out who they belonged to.

“ _His vitals are looking good_ ”, a voice Peter vaguely recognized said. “ _Considering how much blood he lost it’s crazy that he’s doing as well as he is. That enhanced healing of his must be insanely good.”_

“ _You have no idea_ ”, May’s familiar voice responded. “ _It’s how he was able to get away with this for so long without me knowing. All his injuries and bruises would heal before I even got the chance to see them_ ”

“ _He’s resilient, I’ll give him that.”,_ the other voice responded, and May chuckled quietly. He could faintly feel a soft hand running through his curls, and he had to wonder if it was May or just his imagination.

“ _How much longer until he should wake up_?”, May asked, her voice not much louder than a whisper.

“ _I’d give him a few more hours at most”,_ the person told her, making Peter confused. A few more hours? He felt completely awake, despite the fact that he found it near impossible to open his eyes.

The more he tried to concentrate on opening his eyes, the heavier they seemed to become and soon it was being increasingly harder to stay conscious. The two voices slowly faded away, along with the lurking pain he had even realized was there, and before he realized it Peter was once again alone in the darkness.

With nothing else to do, he tried to take the persons advice and get a few more hours of sleep.

* * *

When Peter awoke for the second time, he was actually able to get his eyes open.

The first thing he noticed as he drifted back into consciousness, was that the bed he was laying on was way to comfortable to be his own. The sheets that also adored his small figure felt to soft to his touch, unlike the scratchy blue blanket that currently sat on his bed at home.

The room smelt like lysol and peppermint, which Peter learned was never a good sign. The only places he had even been to that smell like that were the school nurse's office, only peoples homes, and the medical wing at the compound.

The more he thought about it, the more the puzzle pieces seemed to click into place. There was the bank robbery… and the guy with the knife who had stabbed him. He couldn’t recall calling Mr. Stark, which meant that it must have been so bad that it activated Karen's emergency protocols.

When his eyes fully opened, the first thing they saw was white. Like every other hospital, everything from the walls to the plastic chairs was a bright shade white that made Peter want to close his eyes again and fall back asleep.

Than, with a slight turn of head, his eyes landed on May who was blissfully asleep in a recliner that sat adjacent to the bed. A half empty glass of water sat, along with both his and May’s phone sat on the beds small nightstand, and according to the clock on the wall it was nearly five o’clock in the morning.

Peter couldn’t remember exactly what time he had stopped the bank robbery, but he knew that it had to have been nearly twelve hours ago.

“Friday?”, he quietly croaked out, his gravelly voice shocking him a little. “What happened?”

“It appears you were stabbed”, the Irish AI responded, and Peter couldn’t help but snort at her obviously comment. That action seemed to alert May who instantly woke up and sat up in her chair. She looked around for a second, before her eyes landed on Peter and her gaze softened.

“Peter?”, she asked, standing up out of her chair. “Hey baby how are you feeling?”

She kneeled down next to his bed and put a delicate hand on one of his cheeks. “I’ve been better”, he mumbled, leaning into her touch. “M’ sorry I got stabbed.”

May couldn’t help but laugh as a small grin spread across Peter’s face. “I think I can forgive you”, she whispered. “As long as you promise to never let it happen again. I swear you’re going to give me a heart attack one of these days.”  

Small tears were threatening to spill out her eyes, and Peter felt awful for making her so upset. “I’ll try my best”, he assured her with a week nod.

She gave him a forced smile before going to address the AI in the ceiling. “Friday”, she said. “Please alert Pepper or Tony that Peters awake.”

Not five minutes later both Tony and Pepper barged into his hospital room, both sharing equal expressions of worry. If it were any other situation, Peter might had even laughed at the ridiculous looks on their faces, but nothing about what had happened was funny. 

“Hey”, Tony gentle voice cut through the awkward silence that followed their entrance. “How are you feeling buddy?”, he also made his way over to the bed, lines of worry etched deep into his skin.

“Fine”, Peter replied, unsure if he even believed himself. “May already asked me that question”

May had moved over to talk with Pepper, so Tony took her spot at the side of the bed. “That’s good”, he responded. “That’s really really good. Are you hungry?”

It was obvious that the man was still half asleep, if not evident from the large circles that encased the underside of his eyes, than by the night shirt and pants he skill wore. He absentmindedly grabbed Peters limp hand that was half laying off the bed and started rubbing circles onto it. All it took was that small gesture of comfort for Peter to instantly melt back into the beds covers and feel like a small child again.

“No”, Peter responded softly, making note of his sore voice. “But I’m a little thirsty”

Pepper and May must had been listening in on their conversations, because as soon as he said it Pepper ran back towards the kitchen to get his a fresh glass of water. Tony on the other hand stayed right by his side, never letting go of his hand. May watched this exchanged with a look of amusement on her face, almost as if she couldn't believe that the great Tony Stark had been brought to his knee's by some injured kid.

“What happened?”, Peter asked again, hoping to get a better reply out of Mr. Stark.

Tony seemed to hesitate, almost as if he was unsure if he wanted to tell him or not. “There was an… accident”, he informed Peter. “You were pretty badly hurt, but I promise that we’re going to fix you up and before you know it you’ll be good as new.”

Tony gripped on his hand seemed to tighten, and he instinctively leaned closer to the man. “Ok Tony”, he replied. “I trust you”

Pepper returned with the glass of water, and Peter drank the entire thing before lying back down onto the soft sheets and drifting off again. All while Tony continued to gently rub circles over the top of his hand. He could still hear the voices in the back of his mind, but the more he focused on Tony’s comforting presence, the quieter they got

And soon he was able to drift off into a dreamless sleep.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Current mood: listening to the Endgame soundtrack and crying. 
> 
> I've never had a movie or series affect me this way, and I am so unbelievable thankful for all these movies and the pain and sadness they had brought me. These characters were basically my childhood and letting them go is going to be hard. At least I have fanfiction to fill the empty void in my heart until I learn to move on. 
> 
> One more chapter!


	12. Finale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Peter and Tony learn how to heal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I literally finished this right as I noticed the new Spider-Man trailer and I am not ok

“Ok Peter, now gently raise your left leg for me”

Helen Cho’s voice was soft and encouraging, and the hand Tony had placed on Peter’s shoulder was a nice added comfort. He sat on the edge of his bed as the doctor looked over his physical condition, just like she had been doing for the past week he had been a resident at the compound.

At her instructions, Peter tried to slowly lift his leg off the ground. It shook slightly as he did so, but he was still able to hover it a few inches off of his bedroom floor before letting it gently drop back onto the ground. He successfully repeated this with his right leg as well, and somehow those two small actions left him nearly winded. However he didn’t have time to mellow in the fact that those two measly activities made him so tired because it earned his a pat on the back as Tony threw his arm over Peter’s shoulders and pulled him closer to his chest. 

“Now you’re getting it buddy!”, Tony told the younger boy, as Peter leaned back into the crook of his elbow. “Before we know it you’ll be back swinging around Queen’s and giving me a heart attacks on the daily.”

Doctor Cho smiled at Tony’s words, which Peter took as a good sign. “Your condition right now it better than we could have hoped for”, she told the pair, putting down the clipboard she had been writing on. “If you can walk with an aid by the end of the week I believe you should be fit to be discharged and return to school.” 

Peter face lit up at this. All his teachers and classmates had been told he was in a serious car accident, which landed him in the hospital for a few weeks. May had been bringing him his assignments after she got out of work everyday and he facetimed with Ned for hours on end most nights, but his room and the compound had started to get stuffy around day two and he missed interacting with kids his own age.

“What kids of aid?”, Tony asked, not letting up his tight grip around Peter.

“Well, I was thinking some sort of crutch or walker”, she explain. “But if the need for it arose we could also try a type of brace like the kind you manufactured for Colonel Rhodes. That is if you would be comfortable with that”, she quickly added.

Peter lifted his head off Tony’s shoulder just enough so that he could look up at the man. He had an almost hopeful glint in his eyes, and Tony couldn’t help but compare him to a lost puppy. 

“Yeah well, we see what the occasion calls for”, he told her, maneuvering his arms so he could pat down Peter’s unruly curls. “May should be stopping by in a few hours so we can discuss it more in depth with her when she gets here.”

Cho nodded and finished up with her examination before exiting the room and leaving Peter and Tony in peaceful silence. Neither of them spoke for a minute, as Tony continued to run his hand through Peter’s curls and looked over the few documents Helen had left behind. 

Their silence was interrupted by a quiet knock at the door, and they both looked up to find Pepper standing in the entrance way. And from the look on her face she seemed slightly amused at the scene she had walked in on.

“Hello boys”, she greeted them, walking over to sit on the other side of Peter’s bed. “I just saw Helen leaving. What’s the final diagnostic?” 

Peter instinctively leaned towards her slightly, relishing in the scent of her vanilla perfume. “Well”, Tony told her. “She thinks Peter will be able to return to school as early as next week if he can successfully walk with an aid.”

“That’s awesome”, Pepper smiled, gently rubbing Peter’s back. “I’m sure your friends miss you” 

Peter smiled back up at her. “I’m pretty sure Ned has gone actually insane”, he joked. “I talked with MJ last night and apparently she’s been the only thing stopping him from losing his mind.” 

His comment made both of the adult laugh slightly. Ever since Peter had woken up a little under a week ago, they had shared many moments like this. Sometimes it was here in his room, and other times they helped him into a wheelchair and took him out to the living room or garden. Peter however, couldn’t have cared less where they were. He was just happy he got to spend time with them.

“When I return to school will I stay here or go home back to Queens”, Peter asked suddenly, making both Pepper and Tony look at him in confusion. “Not that it isn’t great here and everything, but I was just wondering because our apartment is on the fourth floor and the elevator doesn’t always work”, he added awkward, staring at his feet. 

As well as reactions go, Peter had taken the news of his temporary paralysis very well. Sure there had been many tears and lots of confusion, but at the end of the day he put on a strong face and focused on getting better. Sometimes Tony would hold his hands and help him stumble down the compounds hallways, almost as if he was a toddler again. And shortly after Peter had woken up, Rhodey had come to visit him in the med bay and the two had had a very long and meaningful conversation about how his injury wasn’t the end of the world.  

All those things helped, but the neverending support he got from both Tony, Pepper, and May was what truly kept him going. Whenever he got to frustrated with physical therapy or just needed a shoulder to cry on, one of them would be there. And that was enough. 

“Peter sweetheart you don’t need to worry about that”, Pepper reassured him, her eyes softening a bit. “If the need arises you can just stay here until you’re fully healed, or maybe we’ll just find you a new apartment on the ground level. Right now we want you to worry about getting better and nothing else.” 

“She’s right kiddo”, Tony responded. “That’s for the adults to worry about, not you” 

Yeah, it was enough.

* * *

 

“Wait so you might actually be like Colonel Rhodes”, Ned exclaimed excited, as the two talked over FaceTime. “Because dude that would be amazing.” 

Peter couldn’t help but laugh at his friends enthusiasm. “Don’t get too excited”, he told him. “It’s still completely up for debate. Besides, they wouldn’t be permanent like Rhodey’s. I would probably only need them for a few months at most.”

“Even still! You could be like a super cool robot crime fighting spider”, Ned joked. 

Peter’s smile faltered for a second, as he momentarily remember that he failed to inform Ned that his alter ego was being benched for the foreseeable future. “Ned…”, he started, not sure exactly how to phrase his next words. “Even if I did get some sort of brace or crutch, what I do out there involves a lot of balance and precision. So me and Mr. Stark decided that maybe it would be best if I stepped down as Spider-Man for the time being.” 

Ned went quiet for a second, and Peter had the underlying fear that he was going to be mad at him for some reason. “Oh dude I’m so sorry.” He told him, making Peter let out a sigh of relief. “I know how much helping people means to you.” 

Peter had a sad smile on his lips, and tried to let his emotions show through his words. “I’m no help to the people of Queens if I can’t walk”, he admitted. “So while it sucks, I know that right now I just need to focus on getting better.” 

After that they mostly talked about how school was going and all the drama Peter missed out on. Apparently Flash tried to prank their science teacher by stealing all of her chalk, and got a week's worth of detention for his troubles. Ned told him about how bored him and MJ got at lunch without him, and how he’s totally telling her that Peter might be coming back to school next week. It was nice and normal, almost as if the accident had never happened. 

Around an hour later, a knock sounded at Peter’s door and Pepper walked in a second later. She had obviously just come from some type of meeting as her hair was done up in a simple bun and she was wearing a simple blue pencil skirt and dress top. 

“Hey boys”, she greeted them, causing Ned to wave through the phone. “Dinners in about five minutes so it’s time to wrap this conversation up” 

It wasn’t until Peter went to end the call, that he noticed that him and Ned had been FaceTiming for over three hours. “I’ll talk to you later”, he swiftly told his friend, before clicking the end button and putting his phone into his hoodie pocket. 

Just like every other day, Pepper helped him into the wheelchair that sat adjacent to his bed and together they made their way down the hall towards the kitchen. Voices could already be heard talking to each other, and the smell of freshly cooked Italian food flooded Peter’s senses. While Tony couldn’t bake to save his life and most common recipes he tried usually ended in disasters, his pasta was something to die for. 

They rounded the corner and Peter came face to face with the Rogue Avengers who had been joining them for dinner almost every night over the week he had been there. They had been told the same lie thing as the school had, and none of them really tried to push for more information. Not after walking in on Tony crying over the diagnostic Cho had given him after Peter had first woken up. 

They all gave Peter a polite smile as he clumsily got situated in his chair. As far as Peter knew, they still thought he was Tony’s son. So it was only reasonable that Mr. Stark always took the spot right next to him. May usually sat on his other side if she made it home from work on time, and Pepper sat next to Tony. 

Today however, May had gotten caught up in the late shift at work, so she wouldn’t be home until way later. And in her place sat the one and only Colonel Rhodes. He still technically lived at the compound, but he spent most day either at the airbase or working on stuff elsewhere. So it was rare that he had time to join them for dinner, but Peter was thankful for it nonetheless.

“Hey squirt”, he greeted Peter, making him jokingly roll his eyes. “How are you feeling?” 

“Hi Rhodey”, he responded, laughing in protest when the man went to ruffle his curls. “I’m doing fine-  _ stop”, _ he giggled. 

Rhodey did stop, but only after he had thoroughly messed up the boys hair. “That’s good”, he smiled. “Tony told me you might be getting a new pair of legs soon.” 

This gained the attention of everyone else at the table, except for Tony and Pepper who were both equally occupied with things on their phones. “Well that’s a creepy way to put it”, Peter joked. “But yeah, it’s one of the options we’ve considered.” 

“Ok enough chit chat”, Tony interrupted, standing up to grab the pot of noodles he had left on the kitchen counter. “Eat up.” 

So the table dissolved into idle conversation as everyone enjoyed their food. Peter ended up eating almost three full plates worth of pasta, but if anyone noticed they didn’t feel the need to comment. By the end of the dinner most of the food had been devoured and Peter almost felt like he could have just fallen asleep there. 

However he never got the chance to, because only a second after all the plates and dishes had gotten cleaned up, a pair of sturdy arms wrapped around his waist and he was lifted from the chair. Rhodey laughed as Peter squeaked in protest of being lifted up with warning, but didn’t make any move to put him back down. 

“Rhodey”, Tony sighed, a smile threatening to make its way onto his face. “Please put my kid down before you break him.” 

Rhodey shook his head and he readjusted Peter so now he was sitting more bridal style in the man's arms. “It’s not my fault he’s so light”, he joked, as Peter resigned to his fate and leaned his head up against the man's shoulders. 

Rhodey did eventually end up putting him down onto the couch, as everyone piled into the living room for their obligatory movie night. Tony had thought it would be a good bonding activity for the team, and nobody ever complain about it which meant they probably had a good time. Peter certainly enjoyed it, especially since it was his night to pick out the movie. 

He had picked one of the Star Wars movies, and within the twenty minutes of the movie starting he was already dozing off; his head propped up against Tony chest. By a half an hour into the movie Peter had fallen completely asleep, not realizing how tired he had truly been. And without saying anything, Tony gently lifted him off the couch and took him too his room. 

Of course, the other were still very curious about the relationship between the billionaire and the boy, but none of them dared to bring it up in conversation. Not even in the following days when Peter’s skinny legs were fitted for a mechanical brace and they watched in amusement as the pair stumbled around the living room as Peter started learning how to walk all over again.

Nobody commented when Peter made it a few steps on his own and Tony pulled him into a tight embraced; praising him and encouraging him to keep going. They watched in silence as Pepper planted a kiss on his forehead and Rhodey watch the three of them with a bemused expression.

There might come a day when they would finally ask some more questions about Peter and try to find out where he come from, but right now they seemed happy.

And who would they be to disturb that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I’m planning some spin off series revolving around this story, but I’m not exactly sure when they might be coming out yet. 
> 
> Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed this story! It’s been an emotional rollercoaster to write and I’m so happy you all enjoyed it. I’ve never gotten this much support on a story in my entire life and it’s just so crazy to me that people actually like my writing enough to come back chapter after chapter. 
> 
> Thank you all so much for reading, and I can’t wait to see you again in the next stories!


End file.
